Return to the Light
by crashbangwallop
Summary: DARK KNIGHT RISES SPOILERS! The Pit has already supplied Talia with ample horrors to last a lifetime; should she descend again & have to return to the sun without /him/ by her side. Well... She wonders whether she would make it back into the light at all. Everything TaliaXBane that we didn't get to see in the movie. Fluff, angst, rating will change for smut in later chapters.
1. The Pit

******So... I've been to see DKR three times at the cinema so far. I'm totally obsessed with it. And the whole Bane/Talia thing has given me SUCH FEELS. Ugh. I just can't get the pair of them out of my head, so I've started trying to get some unseen stuff out into words. I really hope fellow Bane and/or Talia nuts enjoy this as much as I do. They're just SO LOVELY. Lots of angst/comfort/friendship/baby Talia & teenage Bane/smutty stuff to come.**

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**The Pit.**

She scuffs the toes of her soft leather boots against the red dust beneath her soles. A few loose pebbles scatter, tumbling over the edge. She leans over a little and hears them clatter into the darkness below. Talia straightens again, the blazing sun beating against the back of her neck.

She dare not go back down there, not yet, not until she knows **he's** waiting for her. The pit has already supplied her with ample horrors to last a lifetime; should she descend again - even with her father's men at her back for protection - and have to return to the sun without **him** by her side… _Again_… She wonders whether she would make it back into the light at all.

A commander of the Shadows suddenly ascends before her, gracefully landing by her side. She inclines her head slightly. Already her heart is quickening.

"Mistress Al Ghul. Your father believes he may have found the one you were looking for."

Talia turns to the man fully then, her jaw set with something between terror and determination. It takes her a few moments before she can collect herself to respond.

"I will find him. Wait for us here."

The commander bows his head to her and steps to one side, so that she may lower herself using the rope he climbed. Gingerly, she takes the coil in her gloved hands and starts to descend down the steep rock. The blazing ball of sunlight above falls behind the looming shadow of the pit entrance as she goes further and Talia has to swallow her panic as a million broken images of reaching hands and guttural cries and snarling faces threaten to engulf her. She pauses for a moment, takes a steadying breath, then continues down into the abyss.

Besides the soldiers dressed in kureokukogi that belong to her father keeping control of the prisoners, nothing has changed. The walls are the same burnt orange colour. The hot air is still thick with dust and smoke. Though many of the poor excuses for men that call this hellhole _home_ are different to the ones she can remember, they are somehow still the same; slick with sweat, tarnished with dirt and blood, eyes watching her with a vacant stare.

Before long she finds herself at the row of cells that was once her childhood home. The involuntary flashbacks force themselves onto her mind's eye before she can think and, completely unbidden, Talia feels as if the very memory of this place is choking her. She stops for a moment and closes her eyes; pressing two fingers to her mouth, swallowing down the bile. The daughter of Ra's Al Ghul refuses to let this _pit_ get the better of her.

Talia sees her Ra's ahead - in what used to be her mother's cell. _Of course._ Her father has his back to her, knelt before another, his gloved hand on the stranger's shoulder.

_Can it be __**him**__?_ Her father is not often wrong.

So often Talia moves with the softness and silence that comes from years training under the League of Shadows, but right now, she finds herself running, and Ra's turns his head to see her approach.

He stands when she hesitates a few feet away, her blue eyes fixed on the slumping figure against the wall.

"Talia," Ra's murmurs, standing between them, "You need to understand-"

She cuts him off with a look. What she _needs_ right now has very little to do with understanding. If this _is _**him**, if _this_ is all that's left of her mighty Protector… Oh, _gods help them._ The anger, the hate; it's already beginning to bubble to the surface. She doubts there are many more sixteen year old girls who know pure abhorrence like she does. And what she will_ need _is revenge - pure & simple.

If there's anything Ra's understands, it's the need for revenge.

Talia gracefully sidesteps her father and goes down onto one knee. The figure beneath the dirty blankets barely stirs. Talia's breath catches in her throat at the sight of his face - a crude metal muzzle, orange with rust, is strapped around his cheeks, covering most of his mouth & nose. Now that she's close, she can hear his laboured breathing rattle through the grate. Each breath sounds like a desperate struggle. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion at the sight of the contraption before she takes in the rest of his face. _Or what's left of it_. It's so different to how she remembers, she wonders how this could even be the right man. _Where are his high, proud cheekbones? The full, gentle mouth? The well carved jawline?_

Instead; bloody bandages - black with rot and infection - are wrapped around his head, centred on his left ear. There are thick pink scars peeking through the grating on his mask, seemingly unchecked and uncared for, weeping pus. The cheekbones are now not so much prominent as hollowed. A filthy sling holds one arm to his chest. He sits with his shoulders hunched, his head down, his great mass covered with dirty rags. Broken. Defeated. This can't be **him**.

Talia sighs lightly and the smell of decay is suddenly putrid and obvious, though she doesn't allow herself to react. This is a broken creature; someone who has dealt with years of torment and agony. Not a mighty warrior, fearless and brave, proud protector of the innocent. She feels the hot sting of tears threatening to betray her already depleting strength but she blinks them back. The daughter of Ra's Al Ghul does not cry. She has gotten this far without her friend; she can try to carry on without him.

She shakes her head as she turns to look at her father over one shoulder and whispers quietly, "No."

At the sound of her voice, the stranger stirs beneath his rags. Talia turns back to him at he lifts his huge head. Suddenly the pit walls, the crumbling stone, the burning sunlight, the iron bars… They fade to nothing. All she can see are those eyes. _Those eyes_. The eyes that had watched her grow for eleven years. Eyes that had sought out those who would try to harm her -_they would not try again_. Eyes that had carefully measured her progress with every step, every word, every lesson. Eyes that had creased at the corners when she'd made him laugh with a naive comment, a childish joke. Eyes that had wept hot tears for her when her mother was brutally taken. Eyes that closed every night with fatigue, softly fluttering, and just once she had once leant over & kissed them as a ten year old girl.

It takes less than a moment, but the dawning of realisation on his face is beautiful to behold. His stare widens in disbelief, and slowly a giant paw of a hand reaches out from beneath the blankets; stretching toward her face.

She leans into it without hesitation and feels the dry, calloused skin softly stroke her cheek.

"_Little one…_?" He whispers hoarsely through the grated metal.

The tears are falling now. She can't stop them. She is not ashamed. Talia clutches at his hand with both of hers and a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh escapes her,

"I returned, my friend." She sniffs, hardly daring to blink though her vision is blurring. She wants to drink in the sight of him. After all this time, just the simple relief of finding him alive, of being able to fulfil her promise to him… She laughs again through her tears,

"_I am here to save you_."


	2. The Hospital

******Oh wow. I already got a few followers & reviewers! Amazing! Thankyou guys - ForeverReadRed, Belle de Sainte Ange & MonDieu666! It means alot! I'm glad there are others out there THAT LOVE THIS OTP! 3 There's loooooads more to come, my muse is totally all over this fic right now & I can't stop writing! Please continue to r/r this chapter!**

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**The Hospital.**

_Bane_. He is here. Five years on and he is back with her, where he belongs. He is broken - his body damaged in ways she cannot even comprehend - but he is here. She can scarcely believe it. She will not lose him again.

She is by his side every step of the journey home, his wide fingers stretched between her slender ones; occasionally squeezing her hand in response when she manages to whisper some small words of reassurance. _I'm with you. I'm taking you somewhere safe. We can fix you. You will be strong again. I'm with you. __**I'm with you.**_

He is tied down onto a stretcher, slipping in and out of consciousness. Talia kneels beside him on the metal floor with one hand permanently fixed in his and the other softly stroking his forehead. She knows she should be belted in her seat with the other Shadows, and she feels the disapproving gaze of Ra's at her back. But, truth be told, should any unfortunate circumstances force this plane to fall, Talia would rather burn by his side now, knowing that in their last moments they were reunited, than pulled safely from the wreckage and forced to live again without him.

The medics did the best they could without the entire resources of the League at their disposal. His bandages are now clean and free from infection; his arm properly slung. The lesser cuts and bruises are cared for, the fever now ebbing away with appropriate medication. But Talia's eyes are constantly drawn back to that… _thing _on his face. He had sat, unmoving, not even wincing, as the medics had pushed hypodermic needles full of god-knows-what into every inch of his skin and rubbed strong sanitising alcohol into every open sore. When they'd had to realign his broken arm, and Talia had heard the horrific _crack_ of splintering bone, even she had cringed. But Bane had been motionless, as if nothing were happening. He just sat and stared at her right in the eye.

When one of the men had placed his hands on the mask, however… Talia wouldn't have believed the broken creature was still capable of moving so fast. Bane's fist had flashed forward, and the poor medic who had tried to touch the metal contraption was suddenly lying on the ground, twitching. No one else went anywhere near his face after that, though the excursion of such sudden movement meant Bane fell back to his knees; his breathing rattled and laboured. When another of the Shadows had at least asked him what the mask was for, all Bane could manage in response was a single muttered word;

"_Pain_."

The flight is long, but Talia is finally forced from Bane's side when they reach the League's compound. It isn't easy, though she understands his need for further medical attention and a teenage girl in the OR - even one as slight as her - will only serve to hinder his progress. As he is pushed away on the stretcher, Talia feels Ra's gentle hand on her shoulder. She doesn't turn, but accepts it gratefully.

Hours later, when they are done with the surgery, her father comes back and tells her she is allowed to see him. Talia immediately rushes to his bedside. She finds him lying unconscious, the bedsheets folded upto his waist. He lies bare, an infinite number of tubes weaving their way in and out of his scarred skin. Carefully, Talia traces some of the marks with her fingertips. When she was younger, she had secretly likened him to a bear. He was tall and strong, with a thick neck, wide shoulders & a barrelled chest. Although he still has an undeniably large frame, the muscle mass is all but gone, leaving behind skin tightly stretched over his collar bone and ribcage.

She is relieved to see the horrible rusted mask is gone. Instead, a large pipe protrudes from his open mouth. When he inhales, Talia notices a small clip near his skin clicks and she hears a short hissing sound, like a gas being released. She doesn't know what it is, but nevertheless her slender fingers travel across the ridged edging of the tube. She smiles to see the full lips she remembers are still there, though now, like every other part of this broken creature, they are scarred. His nose is very obviously bent from being broken. _What did they do to you?_

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you,"

Talia turns abruptly and sees the compound's consultant physician smiling down at her.

"Sorry, Doctor Al-Shefa." She murmurs, pulling her hands away from Bane's face.

"Not at all, Talia." The doctor walks to the end of the bed, resting his hands on it's metal frame and watching Bane's chest rise and fall for a moment.

"I don't mind admitting, you've presented us with a real phenomenon in this one."

Talia's eyebrows furrow, "What do you mean?"

"That mask he was wearing… I've never seen anything like it." The doctor turns his gaze from Bane's unconscious form. He settles on Talia, "Do you know what it was for?"

She shakes her head.

Al-Shefa purses his lips in thought. Talia thinks he is wrestling with something internally.

"Tell me." She orders, before the doctor is able to reach a conclusion.

He bows his head with a smile, "Very well. I'm afraid to say, your friend here has… _Suffered_ somewhat, over the last few years. Beatings, torture. I'm not exactly sure what's happened to him, though the marks on his body can tell their own story."

Before she can stop herself, Talia's eyes scan over Bane's starved torso again. Every single bruise, every scar, every laceration is thrown into harsh relief under the hospital strip lights. She swallows hard.

"When awake, he seems to be in constant agony - many of the devastating wounds he's sustained over the years have been treated with only a fundamental knowledge of medicine. As such, they've healed but… Well, they've healed under intense pressure from living in such poor conditions and an extremely hostile environment. That mask was acting as a rudimentary pain relief device. Without it, it's likely the sustained pain would have lead to…" The doctor pauses for a moment. He studies Talia's expression before continuing,

"Well, it would've driven him insane."

Talia feels the bile rising in her throat. Her friend has suffered more than she could've ever imagined. And for what? _For her. _Of course, she knew what was happening when he had first thrown her upward, onto the wall, begging her to _rise_. She'd only looked back that once, and seen his face for the last time. _Never again will I see that same face. Not now._ She'd heard his last word, and then the blood-thirsty mob had swallowed him. In her childish naivety, she'd imagined him being able to fight them all off; in her mind's eye she had seen the great muscle of his arms swinging to meet each attacker with a powerful blow. Talia had seen it happen before in reality - many a time he had taken on two, three, four men at once and come out on top. But now, looking back, it seemed so foolish to conclude that he would've been okay. There must've been dozens baying for his blood that day.

She takes a deep breath, but even so, when she speaks her voice cracks;

"What does that have to do with the mask?"

Al-Shefa exhales slowly, "He's currently under a very heavy sedative, and we've been able to conduct some tests. Judging from the results, I'd say your friend here has been taking enormous doses of anaesthetic via the breathing apparatus inside that mask. As you know, we are able to synthesise most of our medication using local fauna and flora and we recently came up with an analgesic named Venom. It's still in it's prototype stage but it's a frighteningly powerful compound that's able to relive enormous amount of pain without lessening any other sensation. We've tried replicating his usual dosage by administering the Venom intravenously... Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working. For some reason, his physiology requires that he take any analgesics via inhalation."

Talia turns to watch the little clip by Bane's mouth click and hiss whenever he breathes in. Comprehension dawns on her, and she closes her eyes for a moment. Quietly, she slips her hand into his.

"In other words," She replies, "He needs that mask. And the Venom. Otherwise, he must live in permanent agony."

Doctor Al-Shefa steps over to her. He pats her shoulder softly a few times, "I'm sorry, Talia.


	3. The Bedside

**Big thanks to MonDieu66 & Belle de Sante Ange AGAIN for being awesome & reviewing me & really for being able to keep up with the speed at which this fic is going to move. Seriously can't stop writing at the moment, I've already got the beginnings of other chapters waiting in the wings so be prepared to move FAST!**

**Little note: I know alot of (awesome amazing) fics have Bane's mouth in ruins after he's rescued from the pit, but I'm not. Of course he's scarred & in a bit of a mess, but in my headcanon he had his own version of the mask in the pit AND it's primarily used as an inhaler for pain relief, not anything specifically to do with covering/medicating his mouth. Also. There are a number of (equally awesome amazing) fics that depict Talia & Ra's relationship as very, very strained. Again - in my headcanon, they've had four years of nothing but catching up, exchanging notes & WANTING to be each other/get to know each other. There's obviously difficulties that come with their individual circumstances, but their daughter/father relationship is going to be pretty well established in this story. Bare in mind, however, that Talia is a sixteen year old girl who has had an extraordinarily difficult & unusual life. She's going to have some problems.**

**Also. Apologies that this chapter & the last chapter have actual very little Bane in them. It's a tale told from Talia's POV, but please stick with me - he'll be with us in his full glorly next chapter! :D Ta guys!**

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**The Bedside.**

Talia stirs, though the night is still. The room is dark; only the edges of the furniture closest to the open window are highlighted with moonshine. She hears the faint rustling of wind through the boughs of nearby trees; the rhythmic _click-and-hiss_ of Bane's breathing apparatus as he lies, still unconscious, on the hospital bed beside her. She shuffles to a sitting position and looks over at him.

As the sole heir of Ra's Al Ghul and inheritor to the command of The League of Shadows, Talia has some of the most beautiful and expansive bedroom chambers on the compound. _Naturally. _Still, at her insistence, a cot bed was provided at Bane's bedside so she could be as comfortable as conditions would allow should she want to visit regularly.

Three days later, and she hasn't left the room._ I won't leave him to suffer alone. Not again._

Talia doesn't understand what any of the various medical equipment around him does, but Bane is tethered to a great many machines - some of them displaying untranslatable data, others with analogue dials and even one that occasionally beeps. She stares at them in the darkness with wide, blue eyes. She hasn't been able to sleep properly on the cot bed. Most nights she wakes every couple of hours and cannot help but spend a few minutes watching that enormous chest of his rising and falling. If truth be told, Talia hasn't had a full nights sleep since she left the Pit when she was eleven years old. Every night for years she had lay soundly inside Bane's arms, the warmth of his body curled around her back, protecting her from everything - _anything_ - that could have harmed her down there. It was a prison, and it was _hell_, but she'd been able to rest knowing that her friend was always beside her.

Since she'd returned… Well, it had taken her a while to adapt to the life in the League; to being able to command those around her, to always feeling safe. She excelled in combatant and physical training and after a childhood spent in arguable isolation she was ravenous for information and an education. After she'd settled in at the compound, Talia had even found herself beginning to build a solid relationship with her father. It was all exactly what she'd dreamt of since she was just a small child staring absent-mindedly at the unreachable sky. _But still._ The sleepless nights, the gnawing guilt, the odd sensation of having an vast, empty space somewhere inside her that no amount of lessons or sparring or socialising could fill… It all came back to the same thing. Without **him**, she would never be complete.

The sound of footsteps breaks Talia from her reverie. A familiar voice murmurs softly in the shadows.

"_You cannot be at his side at every hour of the day._"

Talia turns and stands in one fluid moment, unblinkingly meeting the concern in her father's eyes. Blue, like hers. He comes forward and stands just a foot or so away from her.

"I cannot leave him." _It is as simple as that._

Ra's shakes his head ever so slightly. It is dark, but his expression almost seems… _bemused_? This angers her.

"You left him once, five years ago. He suffered unimaginably, yet you were able to do what was _right_. Now he is not alone; he is not in any danger. Would it really be so difficult to go rest in your own bed? He will still be here in the morning."

Talia holds his gaze for a few moments, her jaw set. She wonders how much this man knows about what happened to his wife - what she endured. _What we both endured_. Of course, when Talia first found her father she recounted her whole horrid story numerous times. She'd tried to describe just how desperate life was like back then, in as much detail as an eleven year old girl's stunted vocabulary could manage. And seeing her father cry quiet tears when she informed him of his_ great love_'s brutal murder had been difficult for both of them. _And yet_. He just didn't seem to understand.

"I was seven years old when they took her." Talia breaks the silence. Ra's eyebrows raise slightly in surprise.

"_Seven years old_." She repeats slowly, "Imagine seeing your mother - the only friend you have in the entire world - being dragged away from you, kicking and screaming."

She stops there; there is no need to elaborate. She's sure her father wants to hear the rest as much as she wants to recount it. _Never again._

Back in the pit, when she returned the second time and left with Bane just a week or so ago, she had taken a moment to pick out the faces that she remembered from _before_. These were the faces that had haunted her nightmares for the last nine years. Although painful to see them again, standing plain as day before her, Talia had found there was no difficulty in recalling them. She had even picked out a few of the men she didn't know. _For good measure_. On her orders, the Shadows had herded the men like cattle, forced them back into her mother's old cell, and Talia had watched as they were set on fire. The smell of burning flesh was sickening but she'd held her ground; refusing to retch. The sound of their screams, the sight of their blistered fingers grasping desperately for her between the hot iron bars, the thick black smoke pouring from that wretched place like an exorcism… Talia wasn't afraid to admit she had taken some small comfort from it._ Justice_. They had paid for what they did to her, to her mother and to Bane. With pain and, finally, with their lives.

"You don't understand!" She roars, suddenly blazing with the old anger that seemed to be set in her bones, "You _can't _understand! For eleven years this man was the only reason I could face each day. I was a child; lost, alone, in a world that extended as far as a prison door. He fed me, he clothed me, he kept me safe from those very men who had killed my mother! They would've done the same to me! Everything I know, everything I am… It's because of _**him**_. The only reason I stand here - while he fights for every breath on this bed - is because of _**him**_!"

She is suddenly breathless, a little dizzy, and falls backward onto her cot bed. Hot tears well in her eyes.

"You_ must _understand, father. _I owe him everything_."

Ra's drops gently to one knee before her, taking one of her hands in his own. The other finds her cheek, and he brushes away a tear with his thumb.

"The guilt that I could not save your mother… _That I didn't even know_… I carry that burden with me every day. But _you _must understand, child; it is not _you_ who owes this man, _it is me_."

Talia lifts her head in surprise and Ra's expression hardens.

"Bane is nothing but a stranger to me. A criminal. The League of Shadows does not make a habit of releasing such men into the world, least of all bringing them here. But he was able to keep you safe when I was not. I do not doubt that were it not for his intervention, I would not only be without a wife, but also without even_ the knowledge_ that I had a daughter."

The tears continue to silently fall, and Talia can do nothing but nod. She hates crying when people can see her. She knows that one day she will inherit the League and the responsibility that comes with it - and she's ready for it, trained for it. She is still just sixteen years old, but Talia is well aware of her skill, her maturity. Yet, at this moment, she is nothing but a little girl sobbing to her father.

Ra's sighs, "I am repaying my debt to him now. With this."

Talia's eyes follow his as they flicker over to the hospital equipment, illuminated by the moonlight.

"I am giving him the best medical attention he could receive. I am dedicating time and resources to re-building him. We will train him, we will teach him, and if he is able, we will recruit him. He will help us restore balance to the world; deliver justice to those who seek to take too much from those who have too little."

Ra's lifts Talia's chin and smiles, "Then, the debt will be repaid. I will have saved him, as he saved you."

She nods her head in more of a bow than an affirmation, but it seems enough for Ra's. As he stands, he flattens his palm against her hair and allows a single strand to fall through his fingers.

"You are more like her than you know."

Talia says nothing; but she watches her father leave until he disappears into the shadows. After a few moments, she hears the door slide shut. She exhales deeply and furiously wipes away any remaining tears with the heel of her palm. Apart from the hiss-and-click of Bane's breathing, the room is deathly silent for a few minutes.

Suddenly, she feels another hand in her hair. Thicker fingers than her father's, and slightly shaky. Her heart leaps into her throat. She turns on the cot bed and raises up onto her knees.

Bane is looking at her. His black eyes twinkle under the moonlight. It's hard to tell with the serrated tube forcing it's path into his open mouth, but by the way the skin has crinkled at the corner of his lips, she thinks he's smiling. For the first time since finding him in the pit, Talia recognises an the sensation of something similar to smile blossoming on her own face. It feels like a few streams of sunlight filtering through an endless grey sky. The hand that was in her hair trembles as it moves, and Bane rests his huge hand on her cheek.

She knows he can't speak, but he doesn't have to. She already knows what he will say. _Little one_


	4. The Mask

**Bane has returned! Halliluyah!**

**MonDieu666 - My headcanon may be a complete mess (it's entirely possible) but to me, the only time Talia EVER chose Ra's over Bane was after he died - when she decided to avenge his death. And I'm sure Bane & Talia were reunited before Ra's died, just because I think she mentions in the film that she used her father's men to exact her revenge on the pit...? (There may even be a shot of some black-clad ninjas descending into the pit. I MIGHT have dreamt that though. Excuse me.**

**The SIMPLY GORGEOUS Belle de Saint Ange, who I think I love - your reviews are so positive & lovely, they make my day & really encourage me to write more! **

**You're both awesome, thankyou both so much for taking the time to read my stupid stuff! :D**

**Finally, we have Bane!**

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**The Mask.**

She takes a few moments to whisper to him in the pink light of oncoming dawn - just enough time to tell him where he is and what is happening in as much detail as she can afford. As she speaks, his dilated pupils are fixed upon her face. Talia notices their focus is sluggish, though he can't seem to rest - both flicker from her mouth, to her hair, to her eyes and back again. She understands. _I want to take all of you in, too._

"You're safe now," She coos, stroking the back of her hand against his cheek, "I returned for you, like I promised."

Trembling, Bane reaches for her other palm. She takes it and he squeezes her fingers ever so slightly. Once again, she finds there are no need for words; Talia knows what he is saying._ Thankyou._

A nine year old girl stands on her tiptoes. Her hands grasping an iron bar on either side of her head, her face pushed as far through the gap between them as she dares. The metal is warm on her pale skin. She is straining to see the men crowding beneath the gap in the sky over on the east side. She isn't quite tall enough, and the strain in her legs is giving her cramp. She knows what is happening; the chanting can be heard from anywhere in the prison.

"What are you doing, little one?"

The girl turns away from the crowd and faces the other who shares her cell, looking a little ashamed. She twists her fingers between each other and won't look him in the eye when she responds.

"I just wanted to see…"

The other is a huge bulk of a man, holding onto a horizontal crossbar that hangs from their stone ceiling - not unlike the bars that make up their home. He pulls himself up, the muscles in his frighteningly large arms straining for a few seconds, before lowering himself again. He does this a few times while the girl watches nervously before he drops from the bar altogether. For his size, he is surprisingly graceful. Exhaling, he steps over to the small girl and kneels at her side.

"You've seen it all before." He puts his paw-like hand on her head and rubs at the girl's closely-cropped hair, "You know today will be no different."

"But Bane…" She looks up at him through her dark eyelashes, pouting slightly, "What if it _is_ different today…? What if they do it? _We'll miss it._"

This is the kind of purest hope reserved only for the truly innocent. Such hope is futile, yet Bane cannot help a smile. It is bittersweet, as he knows someday the crushing realisation that she is destined to spend the rest of her days in here - with him - will finally dawn on her. Until then, though, he finds himself unable to do anything but encourage her dreaming. She is only a child, after all. He is doing his best to give her a childhood, to make sure she does not grow up too fast; a difficult thing in a place such as this.

As he stands, Bane hoists her up with him, so that she is sat on his thickset shoulders. The girl ducks a little as her head brushes against the cavernous roof. He pushes himself close to the cell bars and a small mew of excitement escapes her. She leans forward, now able to see easily from her heightened position, and watches the distant figure of a fellow prisoner scaling the walls, headed into the light.

Her fingers involuntarily clench from excitement. Bane smiles sadly to himself as he feels her fingernails scrape against his scalp. Together they watch the man climbing slowly, his limbs stretched in all directions as he grapples for foot holes and ledges. The chanting gets louder and more fevered with every passing second - "_DESHI BASARA, DESHI BASARA!_"

The girl leans a little to one side so that she is able to put her mouth to her friend's ear, "What are they saying?"

He sighs impatiently, "I have told you before, Talia, you should know by now."

"I forgot."

"_Rise up_," He tells her, before proceeding to pinch her behind the ankle on her left leg.

Talia yelps and squirms, but giggles afterward, knowing that she is being teased. Since choosing to live with Bane almost twelve months ago, he has been using every free moment to teach her as much about the world outside the pit as possible, including numerous languages. Most of the time she does well, though sometimes she secretly feels like a new piece of information will push something old and already well-learned from her head. Almost as if there mind is over-full, and she cannot remember anything more. When that happens, she gets stroppy, and Bane knows it's time to end the lessons for the moment. He usually follows them up by playing a game with her, or drawing pictures in the sand.

Suddenly, the man in the distance slips. Talia gasps. A cloud of red dust blooms in the air near the climber's feet - he's missed his step. He frantically scrabbles against the wall for less than a heartbeat. The chanting stops. He begins to fall. Without hesitation, Talia quickly clasps her palms to her ears and tightly closes her eyes. She has seen this happen before, many times, and she does not want to hear the deafening _crack _of the prisoner's back being garrotted by the safety rope around his middle.

Bane hoists her off his shoulders, setting her back on the floor of their cell. He rubs her head affectionately;

"Not this time it seems, little one."

Talia says nothing. She leans against the bars as Bane leaves her to watch the prisoner, now unconscious and folded in half across his rope, being gradually lowered by another.

"I will do it one day," She murmurs softly.

Bane smiles at her as he continues to hoist himself upward on the crossbar; "Will you, indeed?"

Talia nods, her lips firmly set, "I am going to see a mountain. And the sea. And snow. And a forest. And all the other things you've told me about."

Her friend hesitates for a moment, sweat already beginning to bead on his skin, "But Talia, what will I do?"

She turns to him, "What do you mean?"

He takes on a look of dramatic concern, "You can't mean to leave me here alone, surely? What am I to do without my little one to protect me? How will I be able to sleep, without my little Talia to hold?"

She giggles at him and Bane grins back at her, but she seems to take a moment to regard this dilemma before speaking.

"I will come back for you," She concludes with a nod, "Then we can see all those things together."

Bane's smile softens as he goes back to hoisting himself upward on the bar, "Very good, little one."

"I promise," She adds, looking back toward the great circle of sky, "I promise I'll come back for you, then we can always be together."

Talia enjoys a few seconds of silence in the approaching morning light before she orders a nearby commander to fetch Doctor Al-Shefa. He arrives moments later, obviously somewhat soporific from being woken, but excited at seeing Bane awake. Immediately the other healers file into the room, gathering about his bed like moths at a candle, and Talia gives Bane's hand another squeeze of reassurance before she is forced to slip away until they are done.

It is only an hour perhaps, until Al-Shefa finds her. Talia is only vaguely listening as he walks her back to the medical bay - filling her ears with the new breathing apparatus he has designed and built, how it has been successfully fixed to her friend's face. He mentions something of the Venom - how it's properties are more than he could have ever anticipated, and even though Talia is fighting the urge to run back to the room where she knows Bane to be, she hesitates when she is finally able to focus on what he said. They stop outside the door and she turns to face him.

"He won't feel pain…? I mean, _any _pain?"

The doctor shakes his head, his speech rapid and enthused; "Venom is an analgesic - it will subdue the pain he experiences from his old nerve damage, but will not lessen everyday sensations. However. It has a few… _interesting_ side-effects. Side-effects that, perplexingly, seem to _only_ arise when mixed with your friend's specific DNA. First of all, any _new _pain felt whilst inhaling the toxin - and by that I mean the after-effects of a completely fresh injury - will not be as intense as they would in a normal person."

Talia's face twitches in confusion, but the doctor sighs, clasping his hands together, and continues before she can speak;

"This will give him an almost supernatural stamina during physical exertion. Added to_ that_, the Venom is also an aid to cell-regrowth. Given his current state, this can only be a good thing, though once he is back to his physical peak, the Venom will continue to contribute to the building of muscle mass and organ development. Talia - if my predictions about this chemical's reaction to his physiology are correct, your friend could end up with superhuman strength _and _endurance."

She worries at her lip as he speaks, not quite able to take this in. It may have been the rose-coloured spectacles of a child gazing lovingly at her sole friend and protector, but Talia had always regarded Bane as being, well… _superhuman_ in some ways anyway. He was the one they all feared in the pit, and to sustain a reputation in such a place required extraordinary amounts of strength, brutality and bravery. The others being terrified of his wrath was sometimes the only reason she had survived on any particular day, and it was a wrath backed up by an intimidating physical presence, a sharp tongue and an even sharper mind.

Talia opens her mouth to respond, but again, Al-Shefa cuts her off.

"I haven't informed your father of these developments yet." He states, with a knowing cock of his eyebrow, "But I will. I thought you might like to see your friend beforehand."

Talia closes her mouth, nods once, then slides open the door to the medical bay without another word. She hears the doctor's footsteps move down the hall before turning toward Bane.

He is sat upright in bed, many of the tubes that once tethered him to numerous machines now gone. One arm remains in a sling, and he continues to be fed and watered via a drip, but already colour is returning to the once pallid, bruised flesh. Talia takes all of this information in less than a heartbeat, as her eyes are irreversibly drawn toward her protector's face. The mask is back, as she already knew it would be, only this is…_ new._ There is no rusting orange metal, no screws or bolts. Talia doesn't know if it's just the surprise of seeing Bane sat upright and alert after days of him lying comatose, but there is something different about him. Not good, or bad, just _different_. His new contraption is a sleek, dark thing that clasps around his cheeks and through the middle of his forehead. _It looks more like a muzzle._ Gun-metal valves arranged like rows of teeth are poised across it's front. The thing gives Bane the look of something canine feral; the dark shapes frame his eyes in a such a way to draw the beholder to their strength. She surveys him warily at first as she reaches him, but the familiar touch of his fingers on the back of her hand draws an involuntary smile across her face.

"Talia,"

Her heart quickens at hearing his voice. Only, it isn't _just_ his voice anymore. There is still the lilting accent that she's never been able to place, and the permanent undercurrent of intelligence and wit - one that was always accentuated with his florid choice of words. But there is a distinct flanging effect; something metallic reverberating behind the sounds.

"Bane," She murmurs back, carefully sitting on the edge of his bed, keeping their fingers entwined.

He stares at her for a moment; "You've grown, little one."

She nods, then gestures to his beaten body with a nod of her head, "You've shrunk."

He laughs. Talia's eyes widen at the sound. The mask not only changes the sounds that slip between his lips, it _amplifies_ them. Although the volume of his voice hasn't changed, every noise that escapes him seems to_ boom_ with exaggerated potency. If what Doctor Al-Shefa says is true about her friend's new tolerance for physical pain, and if he is able to resurrect the powerful body she already knows exists beneath the emaciated form he has now, Talia realises that Bane could be one of the most powerful allies the League of Shadows has ever known. She shakes these thoughts from her head for the moment, though she can't ignore the stab of pride that lingers in the back of her mind.

"You should rest, my friend."

Bane's brow furrows, "I have waited many years to see your face again," He removes his hand from hers and takes her chin in-between his thumb and forefinger, "Rest can wait."

Talia's expression softens in response. She shakes her head; "I'm not going anywhere."

She then leans forward and ever-so-carefully - as to not disturb the medical equipment too much - rests her head on his bony chest. Understanding immediately, Bane shifts on the small bed in order to make room for her. Talia lays on her side next to him, and wraps his thick arm around her shoulders. Bane's head falling back onto the pillow. She hears his breath slow and shallow as she traces some of the scars on his chest plate with idle fingers - those huge lungs beneath rising & falling beneath her jaw;

"Sleep," She whispers softly, "We're both safe now."


	5. The Darkness

**Thankyou again guys, you're all lovely for reading my silly Balia drivel! I'm not usually a writer - I'm an artist by trade & I find trying to paint pictures with words much more difficult, but I am reeeeeally trying!**

**ForeverReadRed - Thankyou for your review, I really hope you enjoy the rest just as much. :)**

**Belle de Saint Ange - Once again, THANKS for your utterly lovely, positive reviews, they are seriously making my day! I wasn't going to include a flashback in this little bit (can't really call them "chapters" - they're far too short!) but your enthusiasm for the last one made me rewrite some of it so I could include one. I hope you like it!**

**We finally have much more Bane! Hurrah! This is the first bit of the story where time begins to move a little quicker. Hope that's okay. Please r/r guys! I genuinely means alot & gives me more encouragement to keep going!**

* * *

**The Darkness.**

Things move slowly at first. Bane has to wait until his arm is ready to be released from it's sling, but the Venom accelerates his recovery speed, and after only a week or so it is healed. Both he and Talia know it won't be long before he begins training under the legendary Ra's Al Ghul. Talia has sensed his eagerness for a while; it is not natural to tether a creature such as Bane to soporific routines of bed rest, medication and relaxation, and when he is finally able to stand and stretch his joints for the first time, he looks down at Talia from his great height, and she recognises the flicker of a smile creasing the corners of his eyes. She returns it with ease.

It is only a day or two more until Bane is discharged from the medical bay and given his own quarters in the compound. They are the chambers of a novice - small, sparse and military, but Bane accepts them gratefully. Talia visits him whenever the strict schedule given to her by her father allows it. More often than not she ends up sleeping in his bed, with him curled around her protectively. It has been years since Talia has slept so soundly.

It shouldn't come as such of a surprise to Talia just how well Bane takes to the training, but she find herself constantly amazed at his natural combat prowess. His determination to rebuild himself, coupled with the added vigour of the Venom, means his body is regaining it's former strength at an alarming rate. Talia can almost see the muscles tearing at the surface of his skin as they blossom on his bones; they fill out his legs, thicken his neck and widen his chest. After just six months or so, Bane is actively surging with phenomenal physical power. As his strength grows, so too does his ferocity, and there are less and less willing volunteers for sparring partners.

All of his training - as well as her own - is being personally overseen by Ra's. It is not often that he allows them to spar together, and Talia fleetingly wonders why this is, but does not question her father's decision, as they do so anyway, out of hours. The difference in their size increases with each passing day, until Talia's superior speed and agility are the only two things that keep her from loosing every match.

She is not idle, however. Talia is now approaching seventeen years old, and deemed worthy to push her mental and physical development. She spends the majority of her days under instruction from Ra's, and she - like Bane - feels her body morph into something new beneath her skin. A well established routine of exercise and strength-building means muscles develop where there were previously none; her skinny, childish limbs give way to the form of a determined, disciplined woman at her peak. She discovers that her quick step is her greatest asset, followed closely by a knack for balance and poise. She is able to move silently, even when fully armed in the League's signature black kureokukogi. Only Ra's himself bests her when it comes to matters of stealth.

On the rare occasion when she is able to train with Bane and her father simultaneously, she notices that her friend seems to become absorbed by a particular fighting style for a month or two - _jujitsu, kyokushin karate, akido, muay thai_ - before disregarding it. They are not forgotten completely - Talia can see some of the moves from each discipline; borrowed and stolen as he adapts them to fit his own brand of thuggish, inelegant (though non the less effective) street fighting. It makes him harder to judge, and more difficult to out manuever.

When she asks him about it, he merely shrugs and his eyes crinkle as he replies with a feral grin,

"It is fighting, not dancing, little one."

Just as he spends his days honing his body to it's peak, his nights are filled with endless reading. Talia remembers their few religious texts from the pit - handled to the point of exhaustion, with broken spines and tattered pages. Bane had treated them with nothing short of reverence, and had taught her that all books were to be respected and cared for. With the League's library at his disposal, he becomes engrossed with all manner of the written word, particularly history and languages, and devours books as if he is a man starved for information. Sometimes she joins him in his meagre chambers, happy to just sit and watch him read for hours by candlelight, enjoying the way the yellow glow illuminates his ever-growing form. A new, pleasant, warm _something_ seems to uncoil in her stomach when she is able to drink in the sight of him like this, and she attributes it to a kind of peace that she has never known before. This feeling - when it seems that there is no one else in the world but them - is something she would not be able to trade for the world. His presence is everything to her; just to be near him is enough to keep her contented with life. _He is the missing half to my whole._

After finishing her own instruction for the day, Talia stops by the training hall to watch him sparring on a particularly stormy evening. Gusts of wind clatter against the shutters, ridges of moonlight cut across the wooden floor like ethereal swords. There are a few golden lights dotted about the room to keep them from plunging into total darkness. She stands on the mezzanine above, leaning quietly at the bannisters. Bane is proud in the middle of the floor while three of her father's men are crouched low, circling defensively - like hyenas poised for the perfect moment to strike a gigantic lion. Ra's watches from the shadowy corners of the room. _As always._ She notices Bane hasn't dropped into any recognisable stance; instead, he simply stands, his arms barrelled out on either side of him, gloved fingers twitching with anticipation. He towers over them. No one makes a move. _Are they afraid of him?_ Surely not. Any member of the League of Shadows knows it takes more than brute strength to win any given fight - recruits are brought up to revere and train in all physical trails on an equal level. _Endurance, agility, speed, patience, strength_. Still, it takes an unusually long amount of time before one of them finally moves inward, but he moves with such acceleration and dexterity as to make his League proud.

However, it isn't enough.

Bane turns reflexively and meets the black-clad figure with a technically haphazard but nevertheless powerful kick to the hand. The recruit staggers, his ninjato sword clattering to the ground. Another Shadow - the one now at Bane's back - darts toward him. He twirls gracefully on the hard wooden floor, his left leg jutting out in an attempt to sweep his adversary off his feet. Bane sidesteps him lazily before turning, his enormous arm pulsing as he reaches for the ninja's throat. Talia watches as the recruit is picked up by his neck in one of Bane's fists, then flung to the side of the room like a rag doll. The third recruit comes forward in a strike - a technically perfect _mawashi geri_ kick - but Bane is ready. He swings his upper body in a circle, allowing the kick to wash through the air where he'd previously been stood, before simply grabbing a handful of the recruit's kureokukogi and forcing him hard into the ground. The Shadow coughs on impact - blood spurts from his lips.

It all happens in just a few seconds, and by this time the first Shadow has regained his ninjato and is stalking Bane again. Talia notices his free hand jerks toward something on his belt, and suddenly, the few remaining lights go out. She smiles to herself in the darkness. A ninja knows that the shadows are their greatest ally in an ordinarily unequal fight._ But they have forgotten that Bane and I know these shadows better than any other. We were __**born**__ in them._

* * *

The ten year old girl is as quick as a snake, striking forward with skinny limbs. She manages to catch a heel of bread and a few loose apples before she is turning away again, running back to her cell. The rations are left sporadically; never distributed fairly, but just dropped into the pit from the great hole in the sky. Sometimes Talia sees the men craning over the edge, watching the prisoners scrabble for food in the dust. Sometimes she can hear them laughing.

There is no moon tonight. It is almost pitch black, but she knows the way. It is usually Bane who gathers the food, but tonight Talia has snuck out while he sleeps. He keeps the door to their cell locked at all times, not realising that Talia is small and thin enough to simply slip between the iron bars. She feels a need to provide for him, as he has done for her these past two years. He has trained her to hurt a man, should it come to that; she knows where to strike a man in order to make him crumple to the floor, but she's not foolish. She knows she cannot hold her own in a fight. Talia relies on her size as a weapon, rather than a weakness; she is smaller, quicker, lighter. If she keeps to the shadows, she should be able to take the food and leave again without even being seen.

But she _has_ been seen.

Whispered rumours have reached both her and Bane's ears over the past month or so - some of the men are questioning what she is. Thankfully, she is not bleeding yet, but the softness of her jaw, the prettiness of her eyes, the slenderness of her neck; they are starting to betray her. She and Bane have already begun to bind the small breasts beginning to bud on her chest, and she has been shaving her head since she was a toddler. Still, it is not enough. Her womanhood is starting to show through the disguises.

A slender man with long hair sweeps in front of her as she turns a corner, arms wrapped about her spoils. They are alone. Talia hears him snarl at her with a mouth of broken teeth but before she is able to make out his silhouette, he is rushing forward. She hasn't even time to cry out before thin, spidery fingers are clasped at her throat. She drops the food - hoping the promise of a good meal will make the man take it and leave - but it doesn't work. Dirty fingernails are bruising her pale skin. She chokes, spluttering, everything Bane has taught her blanked from her mind. A white nothing clouds her sight, she feels consciousness slipping behind her eyes…

The fist loosens around her throat, then lets go altogether. Talia falls to the ground, coughing desperately, her head spinning, but she gathers up the food, knowing she must get it back to her cell as quickly as she dares. Then, there is a bang. The sound of bones crunching. She looks up, desperate to make out what is happening in the thick black darkness. Suddenly she feels hot, sticky liquid pooling at her feet. She wants to run, but something keeps her frozen to the spot.

"Come here, little one."

It's Bane. Talia swallows a stifled cry of relief, the bread and fruit still clutched desperately to her chest.

"Where are you? I can't see you!"

Bane's voice is calm and still, "Follow the sound of my voice."

Gingerly Talia takes a few tentative steps toward where she thinks he is. The liquid on the floor is already congealing at her toes and she winces.

"What… What did you do to him?"

She doesn't receive an answer until she has closed the gap between them, and then she feels the blissfully reassuring warmth of Bane's hand on her cheek.

"He will not touch you again," He states simply, lifting her off the floor and carrying her away.

"I… I got us some food," Talia offers quietly, burying herself in his familiar smell.

There is a chuckle in the darkness, "Well done, little one. Though next time, it might be better if you just wake me up."

* * *

Talia gives her eyes a fraction of a second to adjust before running toward the ledge on the mezzanine, placing her hands on it's surface and somersaulting over. Her frame is small and nimble - perhaps even stunted by the pit, like a flower trying to grow where there is no sun to nourish it. But she finds her build perfect for the gymnastics of one mastering ninjistu.

Talia lands on the wooden floor below in almost perfect silence and quickly cartwheels forward, where she can see the moonlight catching the glimmer of a sword. _Got you._ Her feet find their mark before she does a complete turn, and she grips with her thighs; every ounce of strength she has helping to turn herself upright with a burning strain in her abdomen. She's sat on the recruits shoulders, as she had sat on Bane's for so many years. Only this time, her legs react like the coils of a python, and whenever she feels resistance, she twists harder, blocking off the windpipe. It is a moment or two before Talia feels the man topple to the ground, choked on his own stupidity._ Learn to mind your surroundings_ she silently reminds him, as her father has always done to her.

Suddenly, the lights flicker back to life, and Talia automatically stands with her arms and legs straight by her side, formally. Bane surveys the last unconscious Shadow by her feet before catching her eye. She grins at him.

"Well done, little one."


	6. The Training

**Okay, wow. I got a really nice amount of feedback from my last chapter, and it really meant alot! Got some interesting messages about the Bane/Talia/Ra's relationship AND I SWEAR I COULD TALK ABOUT THESE ALL DAY BECAUSE OMG I LOVE THEM. Ahem.**

**Almondjoy90 - You said you thought my writing was "elegant" & I swear my eyes might have fallen out of my head. Writing does NOT come naturally to me, and that is one of the nicest compliments I've ever had. I genuinely feel like I'm just throwing words at my computer screen sometimes, & hoping that they stick. THANKYOU. Hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

**MonDieu666/Belle de Saint Ange - You guys both continue to make me suuuuuper happy with your lovely reviews, it seriously warms my heart that you're following one of my stories! In regards to the whole "who does Talia finally choose?" convo - I have to agree with Belle & say it's Bane. In my headcanon she leaves the pit, finds Ra's, trains, returns for Bane, Ra's & Bane piss each other off, Bane is excommunicated &, eventually, Talia voluntarily leaves the League (& subsequently her father) to follow him. In my head they do League-type things together (burn cities, kill warlords, return "balance" etc) until Talia hears of her fathers**** death. THEN she decides to return to Gotham and plots her revenge, deciding that, now her father has paid for excommunicating her friend, she is able to take her place and fulfil his destiny. THIS IS JUST MY HEADCANON THOUGH. It's SUCH an interesting discussion & can be taken in all sorts of ways. I COULD TALK ABOUT THEM FOREVER. Ugh. Serious Balia feels.**

**ANYWAY.**

**This chapter is more Talia-centered. I got a few messages/reviews requesting that the romance be a very, very slow burn & I TOTALLY agree. It's gonna be slow. And Bane is going to fight it every fucking step of the way! Haha. The next chapter will be up VERY soon. It's half written already & has LOTS of Bane.**

**Love you all!**

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**The Training.**

It is a cool autumn afternoon in the main training hall. The sun is beginning to slip behind the horizon - leaving watercolour pinks and oranges splashed across the sky in it's wake. A few loose leaves in various metallic shades - silver, gold, bronze - have carelessly fluttered through the open window shutters and settled on the hardwood floor. A hundred or so men dressed head-to-toe in jet black kureokukogi are separated into pairs - the usual routine after a few hours of individual training and meditation.

Talia is partnered with Mohan, a boy with ochre-coloured skin and a smile that suggests he's enjoying his own secret joke at everyone else's expense. He is a few years older than Talia, but he is small for his age and light on his feet, like her. They've sparred together before on numerous occasions, so Talia knows he's stronger on his backstop that his front, and that he often goes for defensive strikes such as sweeps and blocks. Unfortunately, he also likes to grab and throw a lot. Talia _hates_ wrestling; she just hasn't the build or the stamina for it. Taking a deep breath, she drops into her most appropriate style.

"Mistress Al Ghul," Mohan whispers with a respectful nod of the head as he too assumes a stance. _Kung Fu - panther stance._ That wicked half-smile breaks on his face, "Always a pleasure."

Talia cocks an eyebrow at him. He is skinny and slight, though much stronger than he first appears. His hair is thick and black and seems to grow straight up, like grass. His eyes are a chocolate brown, and always seem to be twinkling with a sense of mischief. Talia can admit that he's handsome - in rugged sort of a way - and secretly she somewhat enjoys the attention he's always more than willing to give her. But often he's one of those who just doesn't know when to quit. _I'll soon beat that out of him._

Across the room she notices Bane, practising his own martial arts on a well-worn punch bag. The chains that hold it to the ceiling rattle and clink with each devastating blow._ Boxing now, is it?_ She feels a sting of regret, knowing that once again, her father has struggled to pair someone with him. His size and shape meant that Bane was far too cumbersome and uninterested in the details to excel at stealth. He could never be a ninja, but he _is_ an assassin; his raw strength, endurance and knack for adapting any training to perfectly suit his own needs is unrivalled by anyone, save perhaps Ra's himself. When the volunteers initially ran out, Ra's simply used his authority and_ forced _someone to fight against him. After a while, it quickly became apparent even a handful of her father's quickest and deadliest weren't even forcing Bane to turn a sweat - a entire row of the best shinobi only broke across Bane's expansive frame like water on a rock. Very occasionally, Ra's will spar with Bane one-to-one. But_ only_ when they are alone. More often than not, Ra's admits defeat, and Bane is resigned to taking out that awesome power on something that isn't able to receive broken bones, or punctured organs. In some ways, he actually seems to prefer it - he never has to hold back.

Bane turns over his shoulder to look at her, and Talia subtly puts her palm up to him. As he is on the other side of the room, she isn't close enough to discern any crinkle near his eyes that would tell her he was smiling, but he nods over to her all the same. In spite of herself, Talia grins back.

She and Mohan begin with basic three-step _kumitae_ while Ra's prowls the room like a silent cougar. He speaks only when the need to lean inward and give a particular recruit a word or two of advice about their style arises, and the room is filled solely by the sounds of footsteps on the mats, the snapping of the kureokukogi as strikes are made, and the occasional grunt when they are received. After a short while, the heat is stepped up a notch, and the proper sparring begins. Ra's comes near to where Talia and Mohan are paired, and he stops to watch.

The pressure of having her father scrutinising her every move is too much, and Mohan is quickly able to make an easy kick to her calf, making Talia fall to one knee. She inwardly grimaces as his wooden training sword is put to her throat;

"Yield," She mutters irritably.

Talia takes Mohan's hand when he offers to help her up, but playfully scowls at the inane smile on his face; he's still grinning as if privy to a joke only he knows.

"Know your opponent, Talia." Ra's reminds her with a stern but gentle murmur.

Her cheeks flush with embarrassment and exertion; "_Again_."

Mohan seems to have registered the new pressure she's under, and - with that feral smile - goes for the exact same move as before._ Big mistake_. Expecting it this time, Talia sidesteps out of his way and reposts with a perfectly executed _makazuki gheri_ kick; aiming for the side of Mohan's well-chiseled face. His grin extends as he easily ducks out of her legs reach - _Did he just wink at me?_ - before grabbing her outstretched limb with one hand and then twirling with it. The rest of Talia's body has no choice but to follow, and she lands in an undignified heap on the mat.

_A trap. An obvious trap_.

"Know your opponent." Ra's repeats with a little more force, a mysterious half-smile on his features, before he continues his stalk about the hall.

Talia growls to herself.

"Yeild?" Mohan asks, leaning over her, his hand outstretched.

She just scowls at him.

Her sparring partner laughs, but persists with his palm in front of her face. Talia swats it away with the back of her hand. Now her father is gone, she doesn't much feel like standing and continuing.

Mohan shrugs to himself, "If you're not yielding then I guess we're still fighting."

He suddenly begins to drop; his knee aiming for her throat. She knows there is no real danger in these sparring matches - Mohan is merely trying to force Talia into such a submission that she has no other choice but to accept defeat. _I refuse to be made of a fool of._

Just before his bent knee touches the collar of her gi, Talia rolls out of his way, stealing the re-sheathed sword from his belt as she moves. Turning as quickly as a flash of lightning, she then pushes the wooden ninjato to the back of his neck. Mohan glances at her over one shoulder - grinning, as always.

"Know your opponent." Talia commands in a passable impression of her father.

Mohan laughs - a sound rarely heard in the harsh discipline of the training hall - before suddenly bounding to his feet and spinning on his heel. He grabs the sword with both hands on the wooden blade and uses it as leverage to push Talia away.

She winces slightly as her back hits a nearby wall. He continues to push against the ninjato, smiling wickedly over his clenched knuckles. He even waggles his eyebrows at her. Talia can't help but giggle at the ridiculous turn their sparring has taken. Fortunately, Ra's still doesn't seem to have noticed. The edge of the wooden blade inches closer to her throat as Mohan's strength very gradually overpowers hers. The fact that she's laughing is weakening her position, and she desperately tries in vain to keep a straight face for more than a few seconds.

A number of the nearest recruits have paused in their training and are watching them both; a few with bemused expressions on their faces. Talia briefly notices Bane has stopped his assault on the punching bag - it swings warily at his side while he keeps his dark eyes fixed on her.

She redirects her gaze to Mohan, lifting an eyebrow as she continues to fight him off, "You do realise, were this my real katanna, your hands would be shredded to ribbons by now…?"

He shrugs casually, leaning his weight into her. Talia grimaces as the blade-edge gets ever closer to her neck. The stick of the ninjato-shaped wood is straining in-between their hands; it's middle begins to splinter.

"Let go! It's breaking!" Talia yelps with a spurt of laughter.

Mohan shakes his head - that wicked grin showing a row of white teeth; "Then yield!"

She purses her lips, attempting to get purchase on the wall behind her with the soles of her feet. Even though he is small, Talia knows that beneath the gi, Mohan has a toned, wired body and he is too strong for her; she can do nothing but keep the cracking wood a bare few inches from her throat.

Suddenly there is a crash of absurdly loud footsteps. Talia barely has time to register Bane's masked face looming over Mohan's shoulder before the smaller man is ripped away from her. There is an echoing smack when his body slams against the hardwood floor. Bane stands over him, his eyes boring into Mohan's whimpering form, his face not only covered with his breathing apparatus, but also shadowed by the setting sun outside. He says nothing, but Talia is able to read everything in those eyes. They are _burning_.

The whole room has stopped and is turned inward; staring incomprehensibly at the scene before them. Ra's steps forward calmly enough, though his pallor is paler than usual, and the expression on his face is uneasy. He speaks quietly, and it is only one word, but the silence in the room is thick enough that it tremors throughout the whole hall.

"Leave."

Talia's heart thumps in her chest as Bane's eyes sweep over her for less than a second, and then she watches him leave. Ra's waits until the door is slid shut again before gesturing to one of his commanders, who quickly drags Mohan to his feet and escorts him from the hall.

It takes a few moments before the usual sounds of sparring partners return, but her father is already making his way to her; disquiet etched over his hawk-like face.

"Father, I'm sorry-"

Ra's jaw clenches. He speaks over her, anger clear in his tone; "Do not apologise for actions that were not your own."

Talia nods, her eyes lowered to the floor. She knows her father is right, of course, and she is even beginning to feel the first surges of her own anger at the absurdity of Bane's actions. But no matter how much her reason fights against it, there is a nagging sense of responsibility clouding over her. Bane is hers. She is Bane's. The only reason they have ever done anything in the entirety of their lives is in order to assist the other. Her mind races through the possible excuses he could have for lashing out at someone he barely knows when completely unprovoked. Ra's begins to speak again before she can find one..

"I cannot have such an undisciplined _animal_ in my ranks. The League's strength is derived from it's unity, and it's devotion - to our cause, to vanquishing our enemies, to each other. "

"Bane _is_ devoted to me."

Ra's draws back, and his eyes narrow; "To you, perhaps. To the League? Clearly not. It is not enough, Talia. I cannot trust a man at my back who's only thought is of his loyalty to another - even if that other _is_ my daughter."

Talia understands. _She does._ But she can't think clearly right now. She needs to speak to him, in hope that he will be able to explain himself, to make her conceive what was running through his head. Half of her wants to cry, the other wants to rip Bane's mask from his face in frustration and wroth.

"Yes, father," She nods again, worrying at her lip a little; "May I have your leave to go?"

Ra's studies her for a moment, his blue eyes like chips of ice. "You do. If you promise that you will not immediately go running to him. He is fraught with demons you cannot possibly understand, Talia. Leave him be for the moment."

_I understand those demons perfectly well, father. I carry a few of my own._

"Understood," Talia nods once more before turning and following Bane out the door.


	7. The Sky

**Less than twentyfour hours & I'm updating already! I TOLD YOU THIS STORY WAS RUNNING AWAY WITH ME. It's only a short one, really, but it was pretty much already written before the last one went out. Seriously guys. Balia. They are my OTP. I cannot stop writing. I'm verryyyy slowwwllyy starting to hint at romance, but it's going to be unbelievably slow. Hope you can bear it. Just shout if you get too bored/frustrated and need smut NOW! Haha.**

**...Is it bad that I've already planned & written the first kiss? Muaha. It's coming. Eventually.**

**I'm REALLY trying my hardest to keep these two in character, also. Since Talia is a teenage girl & I was once a teenage girl (not that long ago) I find her alot easier to write. Bane speaks with a very definite style, and I always try to imagine his voice when writing his speech. I really hope that comes across.**

**MonDieu666 & Belle de Saint Ange - You guys are my heroes. THANKYOU for taking the time to read & review EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER. Seriously, you guys have no idea how happy I get when my phone alerts me to your reviews. It REALLY inspires me to keep going with this. And yes guys, like I said, a slow burn. Slow slow slow. They're both going to deal with it in different ways too. Obvs this is a Talia POV & she's going to accept it much quicker than Bane is. Bane is going to do things in the stories that are motivated pretty much entirely out of his love for Talia, but Talia's POV is going to insist it's because of something else. IGNORE HER. I just can't have her figuring things out too soon. ;)**

**Thanks guys! Hope you like this little one. **

* * *

**The Sky.**

She finds him where she looks first - a place they have already spent countless hours of blessed silence together. It is a balcony that juts from the west side of the compound, overlooking the mountain ranges in which the League's home is built. Since leaving the pit, Bane had taken a specific liking to this spot, spending a significant amount of time stood at it's ledge, looking out over the world. Talia secretly wonders if he has a plaguing need to see the sky; to be able to stare at his relatively new-found freedom in the face, and to know that it is real. Talia wonders this because she has that precise gnawing ache in the pits of her stomach when she first came here. It is a feeling she can both acknowledge and appreciate.

As expected; an enormous, hulking figure is silhouetted against the setting sun. He is leant forward, those thick arms locked on the balcony ledge. Talia approaches silently, and she is by his side and speaking softly before he is able to register her presence.

"When I first escaped the pit, and I looked up into the open sky for the first time… I thought I was going to fall into it."

Bane doesn't startle easily, but Talia can tell she has surprised him. He turns to look at her;

"The world is more beautiful than I remembered."

She keeps her eyes fixed on the incredible view for a heartbeat, choosing to ignore his last comment before their conversation is derailed. Then she faces him, her expression cold;

"You need to tell me what just happened."

Bane's eyes sweep back over the mountain range. He shrugs in a manner that infuriates her;

"You _saw_ what happened, did you not?"

Her jaw tightens, "You could've killed him."

There is a long pause. Talia knows Bane is a man of few words and, more often than not, he choses to make his actions speak for themselves. Strangely, this had always seemed to give people the impression that he was simply incapable of expressing himself through speech - though this could not be further from the case. Talia has never known someone to pick their words more carefully; almost as if it were an art form, and when he speaks - in whichever of the many languages he is fluent - he is florid yet articulate. Everything he says, he means.

"What I_ did_ and what I _could have_ done are two different things, little one. If I'd wanted to kill him, he would be dead."

"Then why hurt him?" Talia questions immediately, her temper barely simmering beneath the surface, "You had no right to touch him!"

Bane's breathing is slow - his great shoulders rising and falling beneath the black collar of his gi. He doesn't answer her straight away, instead choosing to stare out over the horizon for a short while. A soft, warm breeze idly blows a few bronzed leaves across the view. The only sound is the rustle of the trees, the occasional call of a bird. Talia sees the setting sun illuminating the metallic sheen on his mask, the fire burning in those dark eyes. She follows his gaze - past a deep valley, where she is just able to make out the shoreline; golden light twinkles on the distant waves. The sky is turning red.

When he finally murmurs a response, his voice is a rasp against the metal grating on his face;

"Just as he has no right to touch you."

Talia cannot help herself, and she erupts, "Mohan was my sparring partner!"

He says nothing this time, and Talia thinks she finally understands - that it is perhaps a compulsion of his; to look out for her, to protect her. A swell of guilt tries to inflate in her chest at the thought of him spending so many years doing nothing but making sure she was okay in a place where _neither _of them truly could be, but she forces it away. They cannot continue to live as if they are still _down there_. Talia sympathises, and she knows she owes her friend a debt that she can never repay. but she is determined that they both put the pit behind them. She will help him in whatever way she possibly can.

"I am not a little girl anymore, Bane." She speaks quietly, resting a palm across the back of his hand, where it clasps the ledge. "And we are not in the pit. I owe you more than I can possibly say, but… You cannot continue to protect me from every evil in this world." She exhales and shakes her head, suddenly exhausted, "Especially when they are imagined."

Bane's glance flickers to her touch before he straightens his back. Talia watches the dying light fade from his eyes as the sun eventually slips past the horizon. He seems to come to a conclusion in his head before turning to look at her, squeezing her hand in his own.

"I am... Sorry, Talia. Truly."

He looks down at their entwined fingers while speaking again;

"My only thought was that you were hurt, and that incensed me to action. Forgive me, little one. I did not foresee that it could be my own actions that harmed you."

Talia nods, a half-smile creeping up one side of her face, "It's okay, my friend."

He lifts his head, and she is surprised to see a misty glaze over those eyes, "If I make my apologies to both the boy and your father before lights out… Would that please you?"

Her smile spreads, "It would."

The skin around his eyes crinkles - Talia's heart leaps a little at the thought that he is smiling again - before he raises their clasped hands to his chest. His other palm moves to her cheek, and she leans into it, as she always had. _He's always so warm._

"Thankyou."

Talia's brow furrows, "For what?"

"For not being angry with me. You have every right, little one."

She removes her cheek from his touch, instead taking his free hand with hers, so that both sets of fingers are now cradled together between them. They simply stand for a moment, the sky behind now a dark, inky blue. A few stars begin to twinkle above their heads.

"Why were you never angry with me?" She speaks quietly into the twilight.

Bane stares, confusion playing in his eyes.

"When I left, the first time." Talia confirms before he speaks. She worries at her lip, "I left you. Alone. All those men… The fighting, the screaming. I heard it as I was climbing, but I didn't even look down to see if you were alright. All I could think about was the sky; the sky, the sky, I must reach the sky. _I must rise_." She takes a deep breath, her emotion suddenly threatening to spill over, "I thought… When I'd return, you may not even want to see me again."

She drops her gaze, now unable to look him in the eye. A stone appears, unbidden, in the middle of the throat and it hurts when she tries to choke down any tears that may try to spill at the immediate memories of her escape.

"Why don't you hate me?" She splutters; a tidal wave of regret and guilt now crashing all around her. Talia doesn't know where this has come from, only that she'd been meaning to ask him these questions since she brought him here. It has been hurting; a deep, dark soreness somewhere in her unconscious, "How can you forgive me so easily?"

Bane slowly unravels one hand from her own. He brings his arm up and takes her chin in a thumb and forefinger; forcing her to look up at him. His eyes are glistening with unshed tears. Talia gazes into them longingly.

"You did not belong in that place, Talia." He tells her with almost stern authority, "The pit was a place for the dregs of human life; for the scum that feed on the unfortunate masses. It is an... _appropriate_ prison. We criminals - we _deserve_ to succumb to the bittersweet emptiness of everlasting despair. I forced you to rise, so that you would not. I decided to save you, because you saved me."

Talia swallows. She doesn't understand. Bane owes her _nothing._

_"You saved me."_ He repeats, nodding. "The purity and innocence of a beautiful girl was an epiphany for me, little one. No longer would I live to serve naught but myself. You were _meant_ to come to me. You were my salvation. Because of you, the sight of myself in a mirror no longer turns me to disgust and misery."

A few tears manage to silently streak down Talia's cheeks as she stares at him in disbelief. _All this time_, and she had never known that this - _this_ - was how he saw their struggle through life in the pit. She simply gazes at him, her mouth slightly parted, lost for words.

Bane blinks back any remaining moisture in his own eyes - eyes that are pinched at the corners. _He is smiling at me_. Talia returns the expression.

He renews his grip on her hand, letting the other drop to his side;

"I think it is time we retired, little one."

She nods, allowing him to lead the way back to his chambers.


	8. The Cold

**EDITED A\N!**

**ALSO PLEASE BE AWARE I HAVE ADDED SOMETHING EXTRA TO THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. Reading it back, it seemed an odd place to finish the chapter, so I added on the beginning of the next chapter & I think it works much better!**

**Right. Out of work. Have time to respond to you all now! :)**

**Belle de Saint Ange - I'm glad I'm making you so happy. This story makes me happy too! There's so many awesome Balia fics out there but I couldn't find a single one that matches my headcanon, or really took the time to delve a little into their blossoming relationship out of the pit. Truth be told, I was groping in the dark at the start of this story and just seeing where it lead me (I still am somewhat) but it's so much fun, and seeing how happy it makes other Balia nuts just makes it all the better!**

**MonDieu666 - You are awesome, thanks so much for continuing to review me at every turn! I hope to keep up my speedy updating to keep you guys happy; seriously, the amount that you guys review and your positivity just make this so much easier. The internet is a wonderful thing! :D**

**kirstytron - I am a mental Balia shipper too. I'm SO glad you're enjoying my headcanon version of events!**

**nostra - Thankyouuuuu! I means alot.**

**littlenorthernsparrow - I WILL keep going. This story is running away with me. So glad you're enjoying it!**

**Almondjoy90 - Thankyou so much for all your lovely reviews & comments. The Bane/Talia/Ra's discussion is brilliant, & I could talk about it all day with fellow Balia geeks. **

**The guests that reviewed - Thanks guys! I seriously appreciate it, it really makes my day when my phone BINGS & I see I have a new review.**

**Thanks everyone!**

* * *

**The Cold.**

A few weeks pass, and Talia's seventeenth birthday comes and goes. It is not in the spirit of a military compound to celebrate such innocuous occasions, but when she goes to visit her father for her usual afternoon of one-on-one training, Ra's quietly gifts her with an exquisite, tailor-made kimono-style wrap. Her breath catches in her throat as she unravels the garment in front of her; it is dark red silk, and hand-sewn with scenes of samurai and shinobi in rich threads of blue and gold. The sleeves are long, though the hem is short. Talia thanks him over and over, promising that she will wear it whenever she isn't training. Ra's places a weathered hand on one of her shoulders and tells her how proud she makes him.

"I never dreamed I could sire such a clever, beautiful child. You are truly your mother's daughter. Happy birthday, Talia."

She smiles back, before carefully re-wrapping the present in it's soft tissue paper and placing it aside. Instead of combat training, they then spend a few hours together in quiet meditation and lesson, with Ra's teaching her the history of the League. The sky outside is an overcast white, and the mountain peaks in the distance are growing snowier by the day. The fire in her father's study is blazing beside the table where they sit, warming their bones against the harsh cold gathering outside - signalling winter's arrival. As she listens to the steady, rhythmic speech of her father's voice, Talia slips into a quiet satisfaction with her lot.

Later she returns to her chambers and changes into the kimono, stoking her own fire in it's hearth in order to heat the room. She is sat quietly reading when Bane surprises her with his presence, arriving in her doorway unannounced. When she stands to greet him, he seems to hesitate at the threshold; those black eyes lingering over the hemline of her new garment. It just a heartbeat, and whatever it is that passes through his mind is gone in an instant. She grins up at him as he places a parcel of brown paper in her hands.

"Happy birthday, little one."

Talia sits back on the edges of her bed, and he joins her, though she notices he leaves a gap between them. Without hesitating, she shuffles to his side - to feel that familiar warmth if nothing else. _He is always warm. _

She tears away the paper, revealing a leather-bound book. Talia strokes her fingers against the supple, brown cover before opening it. The pages crackle with age; yellow and dry. The lettering within is a neat, hand-written scrawl in black ink. It is Mandarin kanji; tiny and a little cramped, but legible enough to Talia, who is - thanks to Bane's extensive efforts - almost fluent in both forms of Chinese. As she flicks through the pages she notices there is the occasional illustration of people in various martial arts stances, with arrows directing their movement.

"I thought you may enjoy it," Says Bane, leaning over her a little to turn back to the first page.

In that same handwriting, though now a little bigger and in the centre of what seems to be the title page, are kanji reading _Yim Wing-chun: A woman's account of survival. _

"Is this…?" She starts, almost in disbelief. "Is this Yim Wing-chun's version of the destruction of the Southern Shaolin Temple…? _How on earth did you get this…_?"

Talia has, of course, studied Wing Chun - it's idiosyncratic strikes being one of her most favoured style of offensive movement. Since it is believed to be one of the very few martial arts started by a woman, Talia has always held it's creator - Yim Wing-chun - and the stories that surround her legend in high regard. The tales of her standing up against bigger, stronger men was a source of encouragement and inspiration to such a young girl standing to inherit a league of assassins.

Bane's eyes crease - smiling at the mixed expression of disbelief and joy on Talia's face. She shakes her head, suddenly holding the book as if it were made of glass; her hands trembling ever so slightly.

"Thankyou." She manages.

After a moment she puts the book to her side, and turns to look her friend in the eye; noticing that he looks positively gleeful. Talia puts a hand on either side of his face, and brings him closer to her. His smile disappears, and some form of panic crosses those eyes. Talia can do nothing but shake her head again; completely in awe of his dedication to her happiness.

"Thankyou." She says again, much more clearly.

Bane nods, but says nothing.

Talia then gracefully pulls her legs up and swings them around, across Bane's thighs, so that she can slip into his lap. Her body moves fluidly, and Bane can do nothing whilst she cradles herself against his chest. Talia knows that really she's much too big for this now - but it was one of their favourite ways to sit together when she was a child. She presses her nose to his tight black shirt, and feels one stiff arm gradually envelope around her. The other hand awkwardly hovers over the side of Talia's bare leg, just above the knee. She instinctively reaches for it, covering his knuckles with her own palm, and pressing his fingers to her skin. It immediately goose prickles at the touch. After a moment, he relaxes, and begins to idly brush his thumb pad across her thigh. A pleasant tingling heat rises in Talia's chest when his hand slips a little higher - just an inch. She grins into his chest.

"You know what I'd love to do right now?"

Bane cocks his eyebrow, looking down at her. "And what is that, little one?"

"Spar with you."

He shakes his head, though a small, metallic chuckle escapes the mask, "You know we can't."

"Why not?"

Bane sighs, "Why do you insist on asking questions to which you already know the answer? Your father is very…_ specific _about both of our routines. He doesn't wish us to train together. You already know this."

Talia looks up at her friend through thick, black eyelashes; "That's only because he's worried you'll hurt me. But I know you better than he does."

She takes her palm from the back of his hand and brings it upto his cheek.

"_I know_ you won't hurt me."

Bane's eyes flicker across her face, conflict etched in the features she can see. _His resolve is weakening._

"Please," She adds, pouting playfully, "It's my birthday."

An hour or so later, and both find themselves in one of the smaller dojos leading off from the main training hall. Talia has already slipped from her new kimono to her usual black gi, though Bane is still wearing a pair of combats and fitted shirt. A few of the Shadows guarding the unused areas of the compound watch as Talia and Bane slip by - side by side - but this is, after all, a military base, and it is not the place of such disciplined men to whisper or gossip about their leader's daughter.

The air is cool in the dojo; there are no fires or candles lit, and the harsh chill inside makes it obvious that this room hasn't been used at all today. The wooden floorboards beneath their bare feet feel like ice, so Talia quickly runs about the perimeter of the room, closing off the shutters and locking out the winter breeze. The white clouds that are thick upon an overcast sky outside are darkening now, and their presence means there will be little chance of a moon or any starlight. _Perfect night for stealth training._

Talia turns when she closes the last window, shivering somewhat, and watches Bane drag an enormous mat to the centre of the floor.

"Aren't you going to light the fire?" She questions, rubbing her arms against the cold.

Bane shakes his head as he corrects the placement of the mat with a nudge of his toes. Satisfied, he stands at the furthest edge, then drops into a loose _shotokan_ stance, "You will warm up soon enough."

He is right. It takes a few rounds for her blood to begin circulating properly, but soon Talia begins to feel a sheen of sweat gathering at her brow. They spar - as she requested - but not in the same way as when under Ra's scrutinising gaze. Bane is far too strong for her, and Talia knows this. He holds back, just as she knew he would, but even still he bests her in most styles. The only way she is able to gain the upper hand is with her speed and poise; quite often he will go to grab and miss - simply groping at empty air where she had been soon a fraction of a second ago. When this happens, she often breaks into a giggle, giving away her position and any advantage she may have had. Bane rolls his eyes at her, but there is that usual creasing around his eyes that means he is smiling. Neither of them take it very seriously.

After one such instance she laughs reflexively, and then gasps as Bane twists from his waist - his feet still rooted to the same spot on the mat - curling around to grab her with both paw-like hands. Talia puts up little fight - too distracted by being heaved up and over her friend's head. He holds her there for a heartbeat, almost as if they were dancing, before bringing her down in front of him, pretending to bash her body across his outstretched thigh on the way down. She laughs again as she hits the mat; Bane staring down at her.

"Your back would be broken." He states with a grin in his voice, "Yield, little one."

Talia ignores him, instead flicking her ankles so that one of her feet is positioned on either side of Bane's right calf. With a grunt of exertion, she flexes against him, and Bane cannot help but fall; his gigantic frame toppling above her like a felled tree. He lands above her - arms on either side of her head to stop him from crushing her - face directly in front of hers. They stare at each other for a few seconds as they catch their breath, and suddenly, with him bearing down on her; his body so close to hers, his hips between her legs, the rising of his chest brushing her own as his breathing is quick and ragged… Talia feels that warm uncurling _something_.

It was always there; a strange heat that is somehow able to simultaneously ache and soothe; it is a comfort, and yet also a grievance. There was a small taste of it, before, when his thumb slid along the skin at her thigh. Recently, Talia has been noticing it more often; quietly writhing in the depths of her abdomen - awakening at the slightest thing; when she sees the muscles in Bane's arm flex beneath his skin, when she notices him watching her from across the room, when he says her name in his hushed, metallic rasp; and right now - it is roaring to life. It unfurls inside her, heating her from inside-out. Talia is aware of her skin flushing, her breath quickening, her heart stammering. Adrenaline courses through her veins. She doesn't understand it - and to some degree it alarms her - but it isn't an unpleasant experience. On the contrary, it feels like a signal. A beacon. A change, letting her know that something is different now. She still isn't sure what, but it feels like something good. _It feels right._

Bane doesn't move. Infact, his body is rigid, almost with a kind of terror. _Except that Bane isn't afraid of anything_. His elbows rest on either side of Talia's head, the muzzle of his mask an inch or so from her nose, and as she tries to read him with her blue eyes, she notices he is staring at her in a way he has never done before. An instinct - brought forward by something primeval - makes her suddenly want to tear the mask from his face. She wants to see his mouth.

A memory. It flashes to the front of her mind's eye, spontaneous and automatic. _The first time I kissed him._

* * *

Bane is asleep. The cell is dark. The ten year old girl stirs in his arms; her face nuzzled into his chest, his chin resting atop her head. His breath is soft and slow in her close-cropped hair. A few tears slip beneath her eyelashes and her shoulders tense impulsively as she sobs. She tries her best to be quiet, but it's no good; sometimes the pit is so deathly silent, any small noise can echo on the red rock, and a tiny whimper escapes her lips. Immediately, Bane moves next to her.

"Little one…?" He offers with hushed tones in the darkness.

She looks up at him - eyes as big as saucers - and sniffs.

"Another nightmare…?" He pushes her away just a little, so he can see her face. There is just enough moonlight to make out the tears streaking across her pale cheeks. He brushes them away with a finger, although it's obvious he's still somewhat groggy from sleep.

Talia nods, inwardly cursing herself for not being quieter; there was no need to wake him - not when she think she's old enough to deal with a scary dream or two now and then. She feels she must be stronger. Like him.

"I'm okay," She tries to smile, but it falters before it even begins. The broken images of her mother's face, which is already fading from her memories. The streak of blood left across the cell as she's dragged away. The smell of sweat, the sounds of a harsh, jeering mob, and the taste of salt on her lips… Talia shivers and squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block it all out.

Bane understands. He always understands. He wraps her tightly in those huge arms, one palm on the back of her head, and rocks her against his warmth for a few moments.

"Shh," He whispers, "Do not be afraid, Talia. I am here. I will always be here."

Bane feels her tremble a little in his embrace, and it only makes him hold her all the tighter. The bitter anger he's always felt toward the monsters that dragged Talia's mother away threatens to bubble up the back of his throat, but he swallows it down and takes steadying breaths. Most of them have already paid for what they did; over the months he hunted each one in the darkness, always waiting for a moonless night so they would never see him coming. He left most alive after he'd finished teaching them their lesson, but always with a broken limb here or a severed artery there. They either died a slow and agonising death, or they now live in constant pain and misery. In Bane's mind, it was the least he could do.

"Go back to sleep, little one." He murmurs, brushing her forehead with his lips, "I will protect you."

Talia closes her eyes, and Bane does the same. It isn't long until Talia feels his hold on her slacken as he sleeps again, though she is wide awake. She pulls her head back a fraction, so she can look up at her friend's face. He sleeps with a slightly parted mouth, the usual creases and lines of someone battling to survive each and every day gone; his expression is placid, and neutral. Occasionally his nose wrinkles, and he snores softly. This makes her smile.

"Thankyou," She whispers so quietly it is almost inaudible, though she thinks one corner of his mouth twitches in response.

Living here, she has no real concept of what makes a beautiful man, a handsome man, or a good man. But, somehow, she just knows that Bane is all of those things. Despite being ten years old, and living in a place most people could never in their darkest nightmares even be able to conceive, she loves him. There is no other way of rationalising how she feels; she just _loves_ him. It is a kind of love that has no definition, or barriers. It is just love. And, in this black night - the same as any other - she realises that there is a word she can attribute to this swell of warmth that fills her chest. When she looks upon him again, an overwhelming need to say it out loud suddenly consumes her.

"I love you, Bane." She says to no one in particular, her hushed voice almost noiseless. "I love you I love you I love you."

Carefully, she reaches forward and presses her lips to one of his fluttering eyelids. She's never really seen anyone kiss before, but it's just an impulse, and his eyes seem appropriate because they are her favourite part of him. He stirs somewhat, but he doesn't wake, and Talia settles back into his warmth, her smile widening.

The memory is disturbed by the sound of an unfamiliar voice at the door. Both Bane and Talia look up simultaneously. A pair of kureokukogi-clad men stand with straight backs at the threshold to the dojo. Talia is almost certain they exchange a quick look between themselves before Bane heaves himself away from her, and she goes to stand. She knows her face is flushed, and she attempts to smooth down the front of her gi while her heart hammers beneath it.

"Master Ra's Al Ghul requests your company immediately." Says one of the shinobi from behind his black half-mask.

Talia nods as she dusts herself off, "I'll be right behind you."

"No, Mistress Al Ghul." Says the other Shadow, taking a step into the room, "It is him he wants to see."

Talia looks up, confused. He is pointing at Bane.


	9. The Instructions

**PLEASE NOTE: I edited the end of the last chapter, because after going back & re-reading it, it felt like it ended at a strange point. If you haven't read the new bit of ending, please go back & do so, otherwise it won't make sense! Ta!**

**Wow the last chapter got alot of love. I thought I'd tease you guys & put the first little blossoms of love in there. ;) Unfortunately, I've very quickly taken it all away again, so I'm very sorry if this chapter seems boring in comparison! I'm struggling a little with the none Balia sections, so if I'm updating a little slower, then that's why. There will be interesting things to come next chapter, this one is just sort of a "set-up". I'll try & get it up quicker too.**

**MonDieu666 - I'm glad I made your heart skip a beat; that made me super happy! :D There will be more moments like that to come, too!**

**Belle de Saint Ange - As always your lovely, positive reviews make my day. So glad you're enjoying this loads!**

**Almondjoy90 - That review made me SQUEE! You pretty much confirmed that everything I'm trying to get across is working! Their bond is supremely intense & unlike any other, but they are such powerful people, it's almost explosive. Trying to get Bane's turmoil across whilst writing Talia POV is also proving super difficult!**

**The two guests - Thankyou so much for reading & reviewing! I hope you continue to keep up with my daft little story.**

**As always, THANKYOU for reviewing, it honestly means alot. Love you all.**

* * *

**The Instructions.**

Though her father's men have orders to only escort Bane to Ra's, it is not a recruit's place to question the will or desires of their leader's daughter.

"We have come for _him_." One of the ninja's repeats sternly, as Bane begins to follow them out the door, and Talia moves to follow.

She ignores him. She knows he can do nothing should she wish to accompany them. And she does.

Talia skips forward until side by side with Bane. He says nothing, and barely turns to acknowledge her. The strange heat that had been roaring inside her now begins to ebb; in it's place, she feels an odd tingling sensation; as if a family of serpents were taking residence in her abdomen. It is almost an ache; a need to feel his warmth again, and somehow, she knows it isn't purely about his physical heat either. Some impulse - an instinct to have their skin touching - makes her reach out and slip one hand into her friend's palm. They would often walk hand-in-hand back at the pit. Immediately Bane disentangles their fingers, and drops his arm to one side.

Talia looks up at him questioningly as they walk, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Not now, little one." He murmurs without looking at her. There is no anger in his metallic voice, but something uncomfortable colours his usually easy tone.

It is not long until they arrive outside Ra's door. Their leader stands before them, and Talia can see his pale blue eyes squared on her; almost suspicious. Clearly, he had not expected her to be here. _And why would he? We all know he has forbidden us to spar together._

Ra's says nothing as the group files through the door and assemble in his study, but that steely gaze lingers on Talia for a little longer than necessary as he strides to the space behind his desk.

Automatically, Talia moves to the shadowiest corner of the room. She was not supposed to be here to witness this meeting, but whatever it is, it will be important. If she stays hidden, perhaps Ra's will even forget that she is there.

Bane takes his place in the centre of the room, stood before her father; straight-backed and proud, hands clasped at his back, his chin held high. He is a soldier before his commanding officer. There is a blazing fire in the hearth, and it's light casts long shadows about the room. Bane's profile is illuminated in an orange glow; the valves on his mask twinkle.

Ra's seems to study Bane for a moment - that same firelight casting his hawk-like features into sharp relief. Talia in unable to discern the expression, but it rests somewhere between scrutiny and marvel. After a few seconds, he speaks;

"There is a revolution of sorts beginning to blossom in Laos, Southeast Asia. The government there is a socialist disaster, serving only to line the pockets of corrupt bureaucrats. Finally, it seems, the people have had enough, and The League of Shadows supports their right to revolt."

No one says anything, and Bane remains perfectly still. Talia briefly wonders where this is going, before her father continues to talk.

"An unscrupulous arms dealer by the name of Sunkanto Chan is supplying the revolutionaries with weapons, whilst simultaneously feeding news of their movements to the government. He neither publicly nor privately supports either side - he is merely profiting from the chaos, and The League of Shadows will not tolerate such a reprobate. Balance must be restored."

Bane nods solemnly, and Talia swallows hard. Ra's pushes a collection of papers forward, to Bane's side of the desk; a strange glint in his ice-coloured eyes.

"You will lead twelve of my men into Laos. You will find Sunkanto Chan, you will detain him, and after you have taken any relevant information or resources that may be of interest to the League, you will execute him for his crimes."

Ra's then stands straight, and seems to size up Bane for a moment before he speaks again; "You will only return when this job is done. Do you understand? You will either succeed, or you will die trying."

Talia has to stop herself from calling out in protest. _He is sending Bane away._

* * *

Talia quietly worries at her lip, her eyes dancing over the pages of the_ Wing Chun_ book, completely unable to take in any of the words. She sits on her bed, attempting to read for a moment, before standing and crossing her room; fingers twitching at her sides. She attempts to take a few swings at her kick bag - propped in one corner - before almost immediately giving up and retiring back to her bed._ The waiting is agony._

Talia knew this day would be coming soon; when either of them could be called upon for their first mission to restore justice to the world. If truth be told, the idea of being sent across the world helping those in need excited her. But for now, she wouldn't be going anywhere. _It is Bane, not I, who has been chosen. _

Being a member of the League of Shadows was a dangerous occupation, but every single man here was trained to near perfection. _Endurance, agility, speed, patience, strength._ Added to that, Bane was capable of incredible stamina and physical power; he was probably one of the strongest recruits the League had ever known. Talia knows he will be alright; it's not his safety that she fears for; it's the black, empty hole she'd felt for so many years after leaving the pit without him. She knows her friend will be away for weeks - probably months - and experiencing that vast numbness inside her again is the last thing she wants. Briefly, she wonders if he ever felt it too.

There is a rap on the door. Talia almost falls off the edge of her bed as she scrambles in such a haste to answer it. When she pushes the door aside, Bane is revealed - the lanterns in the corridor behind him casting an a long shadow over the threshold. He looks down to her, dark eyes shining, and clad head to foot in black; belts and straps across his chest and around his hips. The bulky armour that sits above the kureokukogimakes him look even bigger than usual.

There is a short pause before he speaks;

"I am leaving, little one."

Even with the metallic rasp overlaying his usual lilting tones, Talia can hear an echo of sadness in his voice.

After he had been briefed, and they had left Ra's study, Talia had been close to tears. Any of the pleasurable, uncurling heat leftover from their sparring session quickly evaporated on hearing the news that he was being sent away - replaced by what felt like a stomach full of ice. Bane had quietly taken her hand as he walked her back to her chambers; his eyes set with a grim determination. He spoke a little; telling her he was honoured to be chosen by her father for such a cause, and Talia knew he was sincere in his wish to rid the world of injustice. _But it's too soon. _It was just short of a year since she had returned to the pit to find him, and feeling the dull throb of loneliness finally diminish as she watched her protector came back to life by her side was nothing short of glorious. _I've just gotten him back, it isn't fair I should have to lose him again so soon._

Talia suddenly reaches forward, wrapping her arms around Bane's expansive middle, and pressing herself to him, "Please," She sobs, "Don't leave me."

There is a strangled sound from Bane's mask - almost as if he is choking back his own tears. His gloved hands find Talia's arms, and he gently prises her away from him, though his fingers gingerly slip down her forearm until they entwine in her own. She squeezes his hands in return, her vision blurred from tears. Usually, Talia would be ashamed of showing such weakness, but she knows that she never has to hide anything in front of her friend.

"_Please_," She says again, swallowing hard, "I can't lose you again."

Bane shakes his head - those black eyes moist and twinkling, "Nor I you, little one."

He takes one hand away and brings it up to gently stroke at her hair; the colour of dark honey, and longer than it has ever been. One strand twists around his index finger as Bane watches her face, unblinking.

"I am strong, and your father has supplied me with a dozen of his best at my back." He states, tracing his thumb across her cheek, "We will not be gone longer than necessary."

Talia nods, her lips quivering. She knows it is futile for her to continue protesting - as a fully trained recruit, Bane is useless if he refuses to leave the compound. She thinks she understands her father's choice, as everyone is now aware Bane has become a force to be reckoned with. As members of the League of Shadows, it is now both of their livelihoods to carry out the orders of her father, and their leader. _Maybe someday we will carry them out together, side by side._

"Hurry back to me," She whispers, pulling her hands from his and instead raising on her tiptoes so that they can coil around his neck. Bane automatically stoops a little, and Talia is able to place a small kiss on the front of his mask. There is a heartbeat of silence, where they simply gaze into each other's eyes. Then Bane nods, and draws himself back to his full height.

"You will see me again soon enough, little one. I promise."

There is one last brush of his gloved thumb across her chin before he turns and walks away.

Talia slides her door shut before collapsing to the floor; fresh tears springing her in eyes.


	10. The Absence

**One again guys I'm posting this as I make my way to work & don't really have any time to thank you all individually, or to reply to your AMAZING comments & reviews. Like last time, I'll come back after work tonight & edit this chapter so I can thank you all properly as it REALLY means alot you all r/r so regularly - THANKYOU!**

**Sorry there's no Bane, but hopefully you'll enjoy this just as much. I really enjoy exploring Talia's inner monologue. & Sorry about the fluff at the end, but I couldn't help myself!**

**THANKYOU!**

* * *

**The Absence.**

Most nights she lies awake on her back, all lights in her room extinguished and the moon blocked out by the shutters on her windows. Then she is able to stare upward into the deep, dark black - almost unblinking - and imagine him looking back at her. She wonders what he is doing, whether he is safe, whether he is far from completing his assignment. Often she finds her imagination conjuring the most likely scenarios; Bane holed up in a safe house somewhere, perhaps with a rifle across his lap as he cleans it with a rag. Bane trudging through the sandy streets of Vientiane, pretending not to notice the expressions of confusion and terror on the simple townsfolk when they catch a glimpse of his gigantic frame, his stern gaze, _the mask_.

On one such night her imagination goes a little awry, and Talia's imagination rouses the sight of Bane hunched over a table in a seedy bar, her father's men surrounding him - all of them drinking but their commander. Perhaps there were cards scattered across their table, some coins and notes spread in the middle. Bane sighs as his men swig some unknown liquor like it is water; he is unable to connect with their infantile, drunken banter. And then a woman - maybe an Asian hostess with dark eyelashes, maybe a buxom barmaid with a snide smile - catches his eye. _He's_ something she's never seen before, and working here, she's seen a lot. Bane stands, approaches her, and gruffly counts through a wad of notes. She tucks the money into a hidden pocket, and then leads him into a back room.

Immediately Talia sits up in bed, the bile in the back of her throat making her wince. She swallows it down and attempts to force the strange scenario from her mind. The hot, coiling_ something_ in her stomach uncurls briefly; only this time it is not a pleasurable warmth, it is a painful, throbbing heat._ It hurts._ The thought of Bane out there somewhere, without her, possibly catching the glance of another woman… Talia squeezes her eyes shut in the darkness, sweat beading on her forehead. She knew being forced from his side again would be difficult, but this inner agony is a world away from the vague emptiness she felt as a child. The black hole his absence leaves has returned - as she knew it would - only this time, it is coupled with an unforgiving, raw ache, and it makes sleep almost impossible.

Most mornings she is late to rise; consequently she is also late to training. When her father takes her aside to reprimand her, his voice is a white noise against the deafening buzz inside her own head. He is stern, but Talia is often able to catch a flicker of concern in those blue eyes. She forces herself to look solemn, and apologises for her lack of discipline. She promises it will not happen again.

During training itself, she is slow and sluggish. Her usual quick instincts have deserted her; leaving her open to even the sloppiest of attacks. The poise and speed for which she has become known is also gone; replaced by limbs filled with lead. Talia goes through the routines - each sparring match treated as a rehearsal for a dance. She does just enough to slip by, and she eats just enough to keep her body ticking over. All she wants now is to return to her quarters at night, so she can stare once again into the thick blackness, and imagine her friend is okay, that he is safe, and that he too is thinking of her.

As the weeks turn to months, a quiet numbness slips over her. Talia distances herself from everyone; going through her daily routine with only a necessary passing word to others. She even choses to spar alone - against the punchbag, as Bane did before he left - and when Ra's forces her to partner with another, she makes sure there is as little physical contact as possible.

The heat that was so pleasantly beginning to stir something new to life has disappeared. Talia finds she misses it - almost as much as she misses _him_. _They are connected. _There is a comfort to be found in this unthinking, comatose state, but as each new day passes without word from her friend, Talia finds the need to awaken the fire inside her more and more urgent.

"Hey! Hey, Talia!"

A familiar voice echoes down the hallway. Talia blinks - the noise pulling her back from her thoughts, and she turns slowly.

Mohan is walking toward her, a puzzled expression on his handsome face. He stops a short distance away and raises an eyebrow;

"Are you… Are you okay?"

Talia knows the smile she gives him doesn't reach her eyes - l_ike his does _- but it's the best she can do;

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Mohan smirks at her, though to his credit, he still appears unsure, "You've just seemed a bit… off lately, that's all. I just wanted to check, y'know, that you were okay."

Talia shrugs, the smile still frozen in place, though a small glow of affection blooms in her chest at his sincere interest in her. Talia had often counted Mohan as a friend, and he was fiercely loyal to the League, as well as to her. Often the attention he bestowed on Talia was a little suffocating, but it was also endearing in a strange way, and she was pleasantly surprised when he'd still wanted to be around her after the incident with Bane in training all those months ago. Thankfully, there was no lasting damage.

"If you need to talk…" Mohan closes the space between them, and his grin changes to something a little more sincere, "I'm around, y'know. If you need me."

He reaches forward, and his dark hand clasps the top of Talia's arm. She is wearing her usual training gi, but even through the material, she can feel how warm he is. It is supposed to be a consoling gesture, but after so many weeks of isolating herself, it feels like an electric shock. A shudder suddenly surges down Talia's spine.

Mohan gives her a confused grin, "…Are you sure you're alright?"

It was there. Just for a moment; the merest flicker of that heat. A sudden, uncontrollable urge to stoke it, to feed it, to make it grow again, takes over Talia's reason. She charges forward - pushing Mohan against the wall - and her body presses against his. He's warm. There is barely a second of acknowledgement on Mohan's face before Talia crashes her lips onto his. She has no idea what she's doing; for all her lessons and training, she has no idea what a kiss is supposed to be, or what it's supposed to feel like. But adrenaline floods her veins, the buzzing in her head gets louder, and the tiniest spark of that beautiful, coiling heat stirs in her abdomen.

_It isn't enough. With__** him**__, it was the smallest thing - a brush of our skin, the meeting of our gaze… Why doesn't this work? _Before she can experiment further, however, Mohan manages to disengage himself, and he pushes Talia away.

"What in Hades are you doing?" He gasps, smearing his mouth the back of one hand, looking confused and frustrated.

Talia gulps breath for a moment before she can answer;

"I'm… I'm sorry… I just…"

Mohan interrupts her with an angry glare, "…Just thought you'd force yourself on me?"

"No," Talia shakes her head. Tears are threatening to fall, but she desperately blinks them back. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

"I thought… I thought you liked me…?"

It is a feeble excuse - they both know that - but it is the first straw Talia is able to grasp. Both of them stand in silence for a long time; Mohan's ferocious stare forcing her to look away from him.

"I _did _like you," He states finally, his voice slow and purposeful, "But that doesn't mean you can just press me up against a wall and kiss me when you feel the urge to."

"I'm sorry, I am." Talia repeats. She can't think of anything better to say.

Mohan takes a steadying breath and pushes himself off the wall, standing straight again;

"A couple of years ago, I would've never complained at you kissing me - even if it _was_ without permission, and involved pushing me up against a wall."

Talia chances a look at his face; there is a faint hint of his usual smirk back on his handsome features. She relaxes somewhat, but her voice is quieter than usual when she replies;

"Well... What's changed…?"

Mohan exhales, "Talia. I do not want to be kissed by you while you imagine being kissed by another."

Her eyebrows automatically knit together in confusion, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she already knows what he means.

"_Bane_." Mohan confirms, with a knowing expression, "I think the stitches in my elbow are proof of the intensity of your relationship - whatever the hell that might be. I know you two went through a lot together, and I know I can't possibly compete with that, so I'm not going to try. But I did mean it when I said I was here if you want to, y'know, talk to someone."

The blossoming affection bursts inside Talia's chest; it lights her up from the inside like warm ray of sunshine, and for the first time in months, a genuine smile creases up her face. The tears still threaten to fall, but she chokes them away.

"Thankyou," She manages, pulling Mohan into a hug.

* * *

Later that night, as Talia retreats to bed, she keeps the shutters on her windows open, and gentle starlight filters into her dark room. Sleep continues to elude her for a short while, but instead of facing into the blackness, Talia sleeps on one side - facing out into the night. The sky is clear and cold - a deep, inky black-blue, dotted with stars that flicker like fireflies. A milky crescent moon hangs low in the the frame of the window, and Talia finds herself wondering if Bane is looking up at it's pale light too.

* * *

The sound of gunfire echoes off the tall buildings. There are pockets of orange fire lit across the horizon, the smell of their smoke plumes mixing with the metallic tang of blood in the air. Bane inhales the thick, humid air and feels it rattle through the grating on his mask. It is getting late, but as always, he finds catching any sleep far more difficult than anything else. It is warm here, and yet there has been something akin to a belly full of ice resting in the pits of his stomach since he arrived. He knows why, but he will not think about it. It is the strength of their bond - that is all - nothing more. Any father, or big brother, or best friend would feel the same way; there is nothing more to it.

He glances upward and sees the dark sky is hazy with black smoke; the stars already hidden away by a curtain of cloud. As they pass over the horizon, Bane discerns a shimmering white silhouette of a crescent moon in the far distance. He takes another deep breath._ I will see you soon, little one_


	11. The Return

**Bah! I'm so sorry for the hold-up you guys! You should all send Belle de Saint Ange a PM & tell her she's wonderful, 'cause she actually emailed me all "WHERE THE HELL IS THE REST OF THIS STORY IT'S BEEN A WEEK!" & I felt bad & immediately rushed to my computer to get this chapter up!**

**Really, really sorry. I AM still writing when I get chance, but work is crazy busy atm (I'm a tattooist, so I don't have set working hours, I just work 'til I'm done). SO SORRY. The next chapter is already half-written, so it won't be anywhere near as much of a wait.**

**Belle de Saint Ange - Thankyou for my reminder, I needed it! Hah! Also, Mohan is not gay. :P But that made me laugh!**

**MonDieu666 - Mohan was a drama queen, BUT, I was trying to imagine it the other way round (a guy forcing a girl up against a wall for a kiss) & well, I know I'd be pretty bloody pissed off about it! It is, after all, a minor case of sexual assault! Plus I figure Mohan would be completely sick of Talia moping for Bane, so he'd let rip a little bit.**

**Vivstar - Thankyou for reviewing! It means alot! Hope you enjoy the rest just as much!**

**Sasha - That was an absolutely LOVELY review & I'm really, really grateful. Talia is much harder to write than Bane, so I'm glad you're enjoying her.**

**Priscilla2 - Thankyou! Hope you enjoy the rest!**

**THANKYOU!**

* * *

**The Return.**

After her exchange with Mohan, the deep absence in Talia's chest feels somewhat softened. It is not gone - _not by any stretch_ - but the emptiness inside her seems somehow easier to deal with, and Talia takes some small solace in time spent with Mohan, and the rest of the friends she'd made at the League. She also notices that since Bane's departure, Ra's seems more open with her, more cheerful; his ice blue eyes are no longer constantly marred with a strange haze of concern and guilt. They spend much more time together nowadays, and Talia experiences both great comfort and great pride when in her father's presence.

She is called to his study on one particularly bright winter afternoon. Talia takes a long route through the compound, the path winding through one of the outdoor courtyards used for growing food. The sky is a brilliant azure blue, and the sun's bold glare makes patches of thick snow so white it's almost blinding, forcing Talia to wince as she walks. The cold air feels good in her lungs, and she inhales it deeply. Over the last month or so Talia has thrown herself into her physical training, finding both the mental concentration and flush of adrenaline an aid to her when she feels particularly low. It was only last week she claimed her much coveted black belt in both _kyokushin karate_ and _aikido _ Every morning, she feels herself grow just a little stronger. _Though on the inside, when there is no news of his return, I am somehow also a little weaker._

At this morning's training session she'd tried her hand at fencing. Stupidly, she'd worn her usual kureokukogi instead of any padded armor or headgear, and was consequently now nursing a shallow cut that runs an inch or so upward from one side of her mouth. It's hardly worth stating that Talia had endured much worse over her lifetime, but she finds in the crisp winter air, it begins to sting again.

* * *

That afternoon Talia and her father share a small meal together - something they have been enjoying more now that Talia finds her evenings empty (where usually they would be filled with her illegally sparring with Bane, or simply watching him read by candlelight). Afterward, Ra's continues to lecture her about the history of the League. They pour over old maps of earlier versions of the compounds, discuss tactical decisions made during world wars, and Ra's spends a particularly long time when describing and discussing some of the female leaders that the Shadows have known. Talia smiles when she hears of them - quietly hoping that one day she will be able to do them justice.

An couple of hours into the lesson, and a sharp knock echoes off the wooden door.

Ra's raises an eyebrow; clearly not expecting anyone to disturb him.

"Enter."

Talia turns from her book to see the door slide across, and a vaguely familiar man crosses the threshold to the room. His movements are neat, his disposition is careful and poised, and he looks to be an approximately similar age to her father. Talia recognises him as one of the more senior members of the League - both in rank and age. He pushes the door shut behind him again, and then clasps both hands behind his back, saying nothing.

Ra's smiles to himself, eyes still on his book; "Whatever you have to say, you are able to say in front of my daughter, Aquil."

Aquil's eyes are a brilliant green, and they stare at Ra's for a long moment. When he realises that Aquil is remaining silent, her father looks up again. They exchange a long stare, and Talia is sure the two men are somehow having a unspoken conversation using micro-expressions. There is a pause, and then Ra's stands.

"I am afraid I will have to cut the lesson short for today, Talia."

Her eyebrows knot in confusion, "But-"

Ra's silences her with a shake of his head, "I apologise. We will resume tomorrow, I promise."

Suddenly feeling desperately out of place, Talia stands uncomfortably. Both her father and Aquil watch as she slowly gathers up her belongings. She feels her father's eyes follow the movements of her fingers as she is particularly careful with the _Wing Chun_ book gifted to her by Bane - Talia brings it to their lessons often, always with the intention of discussing it with her father, but so far some quiet voice inside had told her not to bring Bane up in conversation. _Somehow, it had always seemed inappropriate._

Aquil slides the door open and stands to one side, allowing her to pass. Talia nods to him in thanks, but can't help but glance to each of the men a few times as she stands at the doorway._ What's going on?_

"Tomorrow," Ra's reminds her curtly, though there is a warm smile on his face, "I promise."

Talia nods again, then steps over the threshold. Immediately the door is slid back into place behind her.

Unthinkingly, Talia takes a few steps back toward her chambers down the corridor. She stops after just a moment, and worries at her lip. She notices the afternoon sky outside beginning to dull with the onset of twilight. Clutching her books to her chest, she quietly creeps back to her father's study, and stands a foot or so away from the door. The two men are talking inside, though their voices are somewhat muffled. Talia takes another step forward, and puts her cheek as close to the wood as she dare.

"It is done. I received news approximately an hour ago."

Talia bites at her bottom lip again. Immediately she knows this is a conversation she shouldn't be overhearing, and a small pool of guilt forms in her chest.

The second voice is sharp, she thinks it is her father's; "Report."

"Hasan Khalfili has been killed, though I am told his body is recovered and returning to us. Some of the others are injured, though alive. All in all, a success."

There is a moment's pause.

"So, the target…?"

"Sukanto Chan is dead, as are a number of informants working for him that the League - up until now - were not aware of. It seems your daughter's friend has done well."

Talia's heart jumps into her mouth. _Bane's assignment._

"ETA?"

"Approximately thirty minutes."

Talia's books - including her beloved _Wing Chun _account - drops from her hands. The deep wound she'd been trying so hard to keep hidden under a layer of innocuous friendships and hard, physical training suddenly bursts open again. The last few months, where Talia has been working tirelessly to fill it, to cover it, to blot it out, may never have happened. She feels it implode inside her, like a black hole, and an indescribable agony almost makes her double over on the spot. She composes herself with a steadying breath, then without further hesitation, turns and sprints. She runs past other League members - veterans and new recruits alike - and each of them stops and stares at her, bewildered or bemused, as she tears past - offering no word of explanation.

It is only minutes later when she reaches the landing pad. It is separated a little from the main building, and levelled across a rocky outcrop on the mountainside. The sky is darkening now, and the brittle air is harsh against Talia's lungs when she gulps it in. Her blue eyes fervently scan the horizon, adrenaline pulsing through her.

There are quite a few moments of silence - just a soft wind through the boughs of trees, the occasional murmur of a voice, or the thump of a pair sparring, echoing from the main compound. Talia continues to breathe heavily, swallowing down the nausea that keeps threatening to engulf her; the inner pain is accompanied with a strange, hopeful sweetness at the imminence of his return, and it is making Talia want to throw up.

Suddenly she sees it. A black dot sweeping over the mountain side, moving toward her. It quickly comes into focus, first as a distinct silhouette, then as the unmistakable outline of a small, dark helicopter. Talia inhales sharply, her hair whipping up and around her face as the slipstream from ferocious spinning blades disturbs everything around her. She doesn't take her eyes off the helicopter, but she is aware of a presence coming to calmly stand behind her, and she knows that it's her father. Her thoughts briefly flicker back to the pile of discarded books she'd left at the door to his study._ I should apologise, and explain how I came to be here before him._ But she finds she cannot turn to even acknowledge him; her gaze fixed on the dark shape above them both.

It takes a few minutes for the pilot to gather a steady landing, and when the ceaseless hurricane-like noise finally stops as the power is cut, the few seconds of waiting for the blades to finish spinning are some of the longest Talia has ever felt. They are still lazily turning when she decides she cannot hesitate further, and rushes forward.

The door opens. The first few men that disembark are carrying another across their shoulders - wrapped in black cloth and clearly dead. The sight makes Talia stop for a moment, though she knows from the conversation overheard earlier it is not Bane, she gives her mind time to process that it absolutely _cannot_ be, as it is nowhere near big enough. Those carrying the deceased cross the helipad, and the medical team that arrived just after Ra's immediately gather to aid them. Talia is briefly aware of her father's nod of respect to those of his men that took the trouble to bring their brother home. She immediately she turns her attention back to the rest of the arrivals.

A few more kureokukogi-clad League members step down from the helicopter, and Talia's brow is furrowed, her mind desperately racing. _Where…? _

Her thoughts seem to freeze inside her mind. She sees him move behind them, and as they alight the helicopter, Bane's sloped form comes into view. Her breath catches in her throat. He staggers a little, then steps down onto the tarmac. As he straightens himself out, he seems to grow; his head almost touching the inky-coloured sky. Talia swallows hard at the sight of him - and immediately the deep, dark agony that had been festering in the pits of her stomach disappears - replaced by something that aches, but it is an inexplicably pleasant sort of a pain. It is warm, and it curls and folds in her abdomen as she stares at him. _He is… He is beautiful._ Heat suddenly flushes through her, and Talia visibly shivers.

Bane pauses, his dark eyes scanning those around him. Talia knows what he is looking for, but she waits patiently - so overcome with emotion she almost doesn't dare move. It is only a heartbeat until those black, twinkling eyes find her, and they immediately crease into smile. A choking sound escapes her - somewhere between a laugh and a sob - and then she is running again; rushing forward, her slippered feet smacking agains the tarmac, and then - _oh god_ - those huge, impossibly strong arms are around her. His warmth envelopes her, and she feels the cold metal of his mask against her ear as he scoops her up and holds her to him, and Talia knows. _He has felt it, just as I have._ She stifles a cry of relief into his muscled neck, and his raspy, metallic voice whispers into her hair,

"Never again."


	12. The Turn

**Yeahhhh so I updated like... Two hours ago...? Haha. But this sort of all came tumbling out & I figured I may aswell just stick it up here straight away. None of this was really planned (I already have the next bit sort of mapped out) but my fingers started moving on the keyboard &, like I say, this just came pouring out of me. Hope it's okay. :) **

**Thanks to Belle de Saint Ange ( as freaking always!) & Sasha for r/r the last chapter so bloody quickly! Made my night! Really glad you're both enjoying this as much as me. THANKYOU!**

* * *

**The Change.**

Talia is almost unable to prise herself away from him, but she does; others are watching, her father amongst them, and although Bane is still cuts the imposing figure of strength, he feels shaky and weak in her arms. _He's exhausted._

There is no heroes welcome for members of the League of Shadows, but after Talia disengages herself from Bane's embrace, Ra's steps forward and awards her friend with a curt nod, and a formal shake of the hand. The expression on her father's face is proud and satisfied, but for half a second his bright blue eyes flicker to her own, and in that moment the smile falters. Talia refuses to dwell on it; so warmed is she by the fact that **he **is once again at her side. _Where he belongs._

As they all begin to return to the compound, Talia feels Bane hang back with her. The medical team are gently carrying the body of their deceased brother away, and Ra's has fallen into step with another of the returning commanders, deep in conversation. Bane only begins to follow when they are a few steps behind, and he slips his warm fingers into Talia's palm. Her chest swells with joy, her limbs tingling at his touch, and she squeezes his hand in return.

"I have missed you more than you know," She offers quietly, the adrenaline flooding her system making her daring and honest. Heat rises in her cheeks, but Bane will not see it; it is dark now, and the steps carved into the mountainside are lit with torches to guide their way. Fireflies buzz around each one.

Bane looks ahead as he walks, taking in the surrounding vista. Talia tries to discern his expression, but she stumbles slightly and returns her gaze to the uneven steps.

"_I know_." Bane utters back, "Believe me, little one, I know."

The medical team turn away from the group when they enter the building - all carrying the body upto the mortuary, so that Hasan Khalfili's body can be taken care of in the traditional way. Talia watches them for a moment, knowing she should be sad at the sight of a League member slain in duty, but the thick, warm fingers entwined in her own seem to be filling her with a kind of elation, and at the moment she can feel nothing but contentment.

Bane and the rest of his men follow Ra's to his study, in order to be debriefed. A few of them exchange puzzled looks at having to step over a pile of discarded books outside their master's door, and Ra's himself makes a point pushing them gently to one side with his foot. Talia lets go of Bane's hand as he crosses the threshold into the room, and she immediately drops to her knees, gathering all of them to her chest.

Ra's stands in front of her when she rises again. His expression is soft, but his voice is stern;

"You should retire to bed, Talia."

She glances over her father's shoulder and sees Bane stood with the eleven other black-clad men. She opens her mouth to speak, but Ra's already knows what she will say, and he silences her.

"Not tonight. Lately you have eavesdropped on enough of my conversations."

Talia swallows, guilt pooling in her chest again. She means to apologise, but again, Ra's raises his hand in objection before she can speak.

"I am not angry with you, and I do not wish to argue. Not now. I have men to congratulate and debrief. You will have ample opportunity to see your friend tomorrow. Right now, he is tired and no doubt hungry. Go to bed, and know that he is safe."

She knows there is nothing she can do to change her father's mind, and Talia does not wish to disappoint him further by continuing to listen in on his private conversations. She glances over his shoulder again, and sees that Bane is looking back at her - the creases at his eyes telling her he is smiling underneath the mask. Heat plumes inside her, and she cannot help but smile herself. Talia turns back to her father, and gives a quick bow of the head;

"Yes, father."

* * *

It is maybe two hours later when Bane slides open the door to his meagre quarters. Talia stirs at the sound of his movement, having fallen asleep in his bed. He freezes when he realises he is not alone, but Talia lights a candle by the bedside, and her face is illuminated in soft gold.

"I hope you don't mind," She speaks quietly in the still night, blankets curled around her chest, "I haven't been able to sleep properly since you left…"

Bane gives a metallic chuckle as he crosses the room, unclipping his body armor and letting it drop to the floor as he moves.

"I understand."

Talia watches him take a small vial of clear liquid from a desk drawer in the corner of the room, pushing it underneath his chin, and twisting it in his paw-like palm as it connects with the bottom of his mask. There is a slight hissing sound as the liquid is vaporised - sucked into each of the valves on his face - and then Bane discards the empty glass container, taking a few deep breaths to make sure the venom is flowing freely.

This is just part of his daily routine now; injecting more of the agent into his body, numbing the pain that was the end result of him acting as Talia's protector. for so many years She has seen him do this simple act a thousand times, but it never gets any easier to watch. The venom and the mask are constant reminders of the sacrifice Bane made in order to make sure she was safe; seeing the toxin administered sends both a stab of regret and a swell of affection rushing through Talia's body.

Bane kicks off his boots and pulls off the black long sleeve that strains against his large frame. The soft candlelight bathes each muscle in relief, and Talia can see where the back of his thick neck and the slope of his shoulders have gotten sunburnt. There is a cold winter breeze whistling through the shutters, but seeing him like this before her, Talia is suddenly stiflingly hot. As she watches him pull off the leg armor - each flex of his powerful arms making veins rise beneath the surface, his deft fingers making short work of the clips and ties, that warm _something _pools in her belly. It is as unnerving as it ever was, but it makes Talia smile._ I have missed this._

Finally out of his combat gear, Bane stretches out on the bed beside her, one arm raised over his head. He looks exhausted. Talia knows she should snuff out the candle so that they can both go to sleep, but she finds herself transfixed - staring at his expansive chest, the rise and fall of his breathing, the strain of his musculature against tarnished skin - all bathed in buttery candlelight. There are new scars near his collarbone, and even a small burn mark on the inside of his raised arm. Without thinking, Talia leans over and brushes a fingertip across it.

Bane doesn't move or open his eyes, but the silence is broken by his metallic rasp,

"It's just gunshot wound."

Talia starts in surprise;

"You were shot?"

"By someone who needs lessons in marksmanship, it would seem."

Talia grins to herself, her fingers still lazily brushing over the mark. _Only Bane would laugh off a gunshot._ There is another moment of peaceful quiet while she traces her nails around the area. The thought of someone attempting to harm him in such a way, and her not being around to protect him, makes Talia instantly furious.

Suddenly, she feels Bane's other hand reach over and close around her wrist. She looks at his face. His eyes are open, and looking at her.

"That tickles."

Her grin spreads, and Bane's dark eyes twinkle as he smiles back. They stare at each other in a mixture of relief and satisfaction; and Talia wonders if he is as equally amazed at where they have found themselves after so many years of growing up in hell. Neither could have done it without the other. _I don't know what I did to deserve him as a friend._

"What are you thinking?" She asks quietly in the ebbing light, wanting to know if he is happy where they find themselves, whether he is as contented as she.

Bane removes his hand from her wrist, and brings it to her cheek. There is a glaze over his eyes, as if his thoughts are elsewhere.

"That you have grown even more beautiful in my absence, little one."

Talia feels her heart jump into her throat, and almost immediately Bane's gaze shifts back into focus, his brow furrowed. He hand falls away from her as if all life has gone from it. Before she can respond, Bane leans over her - she catches a scent of his perspiration - and snuffs the candle with two fingers.

"Goodnight, Talia."

She feels him settle into place on the bed beside her, though there is a very definite space between their bodies that was not there before. Talia swallows, her mind buzzing, not knowing what to say. Bane had called her beautiful before - many times, infact, when they were in the pit, when he often referred to her as _princess _or _dove_ or, of course, _little one_. But it was always spoken as the words between doting father and adoring daughter, or even as a sort of kind, soothing affection passed between siblings. This time, it had felt… different._ He was looking at me in the same way he sometimes looks at the sun - as if he can't believe it's there, before him, and he is free to stare as long as he likes._

Bane's body relaxes at her side, and Talia turns to his silhouette in the darkness, realising he has fallen asleep._ There is nothing to be said, then._ Quietly, she shuffles back down onto her pillow, and edges herself closer to his warmth.


	13. The Dream

**Okay guys! So this is a bit of a weird one. It's longer, and you may have noticed I've finally updated my rating to M. This isn't THE KISS or anything, & you'll quickly realise why (the title may very well give it away!) so the REAL THING may not be anything like this... But it needed to feel like a dream, so I hope that comes across.**

**walksonair - Thankyou so much! Hope you you continue to enjoy the rest of the story just as much.**

**MonDieu666 - As always, I am forever grateful you are so quick to r/r & give me your opinions every chapter! It means the world!**

**Priscilla2 - Wow thanks! I'm glad my character choices are coming across. Young Talia is difficult but Bane in general is just a struggle for me, I really want it to feel as if the words I put in his mouth could be heard in his voice. Thankyou!**

**Sasha - You always leave the most wonderful, uplifting, helping criticism! Thankyou! I'm glad you're enjoying the slow burn, it's starting to move a little more quickly now! **

**Belle de Saint Ange - There's not much more to be said that I didn't say on the PM! THANKYOU!**

* * *

**The Dream.**

It is not too long until Talia falls into a fitful sleep. Unusual, considering the only peaceful nights she has ever experienced have been solely when Bane is at her side - as he is now, his huge, warm body acting like a barricade against the cold winds whistling through the window shutters.

But even unconscious, she is uneasy. Talia turns over several times, the bedsheets wrapping about one leg uncomfortably, her head tossing in a state of unrest. It has been a long time since she has had this particular nightmare.

* * *

_I am eight years old, and my body is stunted. The world as I know it ends at the ink-coloured hole in the sky. I only have a vague idea of what is happening when a flurry of dirty, howling animals suddenly scatter through our unlocked cell door. They are wicked, mother tells me - all of them - and we keep ourselves hidden away in this barred-up corner in order to be safe. But something has gone wrong, and now they are here, in our home, and they snarl and yell wildly - some in languages I do not yet understand._

_Mother screams at me to run. I have never seen such an expression on her soft, kind face; warped with terror, her eyes and mouth both wide. I ignore her; I have no choice as I find I am frozen to the spot. My feet may as well have taken root underneath the red soil; I cannot move, I only watch and stare as the animals - the men - crowd about my mother with feral smiles and angry yells. They have dirt under their fingernails. Their beards are unkempt and unwashed. They all smell of meat, and blood, and death. It repulses me even then. I lose sight of mother as they consume her, though I hear her screaming and begging for mercy. I can taste bile on my tongue. I know I should be doing something, but what? I am eight years old, and my body is stunted. I am selfish; I do not want what is happening to mother to also happen to me._

_I notice a shred of her clothing - torn away with blooded fingers. I focus on it while my mother continues to shriek and wail like butchered livestock. Some of the men are laughing. Others are fighting amongst themselves - the mob is so big now, those at the back aren't willing to wait their turn. Chaos quickly ensues. Blood splatters across our cell walls. I back slowly away until I feel the rough stone behind me, and then I curl into a ball, hoping to become as small as possible. I close my eyes and welcome the black nothing. I am only eight years old, and my body is stunted; they wouldn't want me._

_Suddenly there is movement and warmth. Instinctively I look upward and see a vaguely familiar face - a man who shared the cell beside ours, who would often bring us food, and play games with me in the sand through the bars. He is cradling me as if I am a baby. Immediately I begin to shriek at the top of my lungs, fear gripping my like a hand made of ice. I ball my fists and try to swipe at his face, my legs kicking at his torso. But I am eight years old, and my body is stunted. It takes no effort for him to wrap his great arms around me even more tightly, cutting off any movement, and forcing me to succumb to his strength. _

_"Do you not recognise me, little one…?" His familiar voice is a comfort, but I am too terrified to respond. _

_"You are safe." He murmurs into my skin as he continues to carry me away from the crowds, "I will protect your innocence."_

_I find I am dizzy. Exhausted. He smells of earth, of the soil, and he is blissfully warm in this cold night. I close my eyes against his skin and embrace the black nothing._

_When I open my eyes again, we are in his cell. I am not eight years old anymore, and my body is no longer stunted. I am seventeen - a woman grown - with a body that has been honed and trained and fed under the guidance of my father, the great Ra's Al Ghul. _

_I am still in his arms, still being cradled as most would a baby - my legs across his lap, the back of my head resting in the crook of a strong arm. Bane looks down on me with concern. My protector - and he is only eighteen. His face is smooth and unmarked, save for a slight stubble around his jawline. There is no mask, not when he was this young, but his cheekbones are still high and proud, and those dark eyes are always twinkling. I have not seen him like this for almost a decade, and in such a wretched place, his beauty is almost overwhelming._

_He says nothing, but he smiles at me. The skin around his eyes creases, but now I can actually see his full lips breaking into the grin, with no mask to hide them. I find I am smiling back._

_"I love you," _

_There, I've said it. Not as a confused, lovesick child who only dared whispered it into the night. As a woman, a warrior and a force to be reckoned with. I say it to him now because he deserves to hear it, and I deserve to say it to his face. I have never loved anyone else, not really. And why should I, when Bane is in my world? My mother gave me life, and she taught me the importance of caution, of learning to read other's intentions, and how to remain unseen when I needed to hide. My father gave me the training and the skill set so that I may one day rise to fulfil my destiny as leader of the League of Shadows. But Bane gave me everything he had; his health, his happiness, his freedom. He taught me how to end a fight I had not started, how to cover my tracks in order to truly disappear, how to read and write the basics in a dozen different languages. Through him, I learnt what is important. I know I can never repay my debt to him._

_Bane says nothing in return, and there is a moment where we stare at each other before he suddenly leans down and presses his mouth to mine._

_The stone walls of the cell burst into flame. I am blissfully unconcerned, entirely focused as I am on feeling Bane's own heat against my skin. I stiffen in surprise as his tongue gently slides between my lips, but slacken almost instantly again, relishing the warm, wet sensation; it's texture rough against my own. I find I am all at once consumed with a desire rumbling in my belly that I never knew I had; kissing him back feverishly, my hands clasping either side of his mask-less face. I feel his full lower lip slip over my own, and I graze it with my teeth; nipping it, kneading it, before sucking on it gently._

_Bane slowly pushes me down so that I am horizontal on the cot bed, and I vaguely feel the hot fire spreading across the dirt floor. It is not painful, but already I notice sweat beading across his bare chest. He leans over me, kissing me again, and a guttural groan escapes from my mouth to his. He smiles into me at the sound, he fingers trailing at my hipbone. At his touch, I involuntarily buck a little, and briefly I feel that he is hard beneath the combats._

_I notice his dark eyes are half-lidded, his usually stern face calm. It is somehow strange and yet a relief to see his handsome face so relaxed. I kiss him again, and feel one powerful arm slip between our bodies, his hand coming to rest beside my thighs. His lips move away from my own, instead coming to rest at the nape of my neck, where he quietly sucks at the soft skin there - his teeth occasionally grazing me. Those thick fingers suddenly brush against my folds, and I inhale sharply at the sensation of his heat against my cool skin. I think I hear him chuckle, then all of a sudden he is inside me; one of Bane's fingers curling and stroking within my sex. I give an involuntary gasp, and the flames around us lick higher. Sweat pours from both of us, his slick body now sliding against mine. _

_"I love you," I manage in a whisper, feeling myself tighten around his digit, struggling desperately to think straight as I buck into his hand. The bright white fire is blinding, but I know I have to say it; it feels as if those words have been desperately clawing their way up my windpipe for years - just as the eight year old me climbed against the rocks in a frenzy to escape the pit. I don't care that I'm repeating myself, or that Bane is not immediately echoing it back to me. I just need to say it to him. It feels like a revolution._

* * *

Talia's eyes suddenly snap open in the darkness. She is lying on her side, facing the door to Bane's chambers, her body sprawled in an uncomfortable position on his bed. The aftershock of the dream clings to the fringe of her consciousness for a few seconds, but she blinks, and her vision quickly clears. Talia feels him behind her - that great warmth - his chest softly rising and falling at her back. His arm is spread forward - and she rests her cheek on his bicep like a pillow - then carefully brings her legs up a little, so she is almost in the fetal position. So many nights they'd spend like this - almost all of them infact, for four years. In the desert, the nights were as cold and bitter as the days were hot and dry - having Bane's arms wrapped around her, his bulk like a shied, not only made that eight year old girl feel safe, they kept the chill at bay.

The usual imagery that often lingers after a nightmare continues to flash in Talia's mind's eye. Her mother's terrified face. The snarling men. She involuntarily shudders.

"Little one…? Are you well?"

The soft, metallic whisper is unexpected in the still night, but the sound of his voice is always a comfort.

"Just a nightmare." She murmurs into the flesh of his arm.

The is the rustle of fabric behind her; she imagines Bane nodding.

"Very well."

Talia then feels him move, almost as if to create some distance between them on the bed, but she keeps him in place with the one arm under her cheek. Curling around just a fraction so that she can reach behind her, Talia feels for Bane's free arm, lifts it, and tries to pull it around her like a blanket. Usually he lets her adjust him into whatever sleeping position she feels is necessary on any given night, but she notices that tonight his limbs seem stiff and uncooperative. The arm is a dead weight in her hand. She drops it so that it lies across her hip, and although he doesn't remove it, there is no lazy, reassuring stroke of his fingers against her skin as she would usually expect.

Talia frowns to herself, but ponders on the effects of the Venom. Doctor Al-Shefa had said it was a phenomenally powerful agent. _Maybe after immediately being woken, it continues to make him drowsy…_

She shuffles into the sheets, pulling a few that had tangled at her ankles up onto her shoulder. Bane's body twitches when she brushes against him.

There is a heartbeat of stillness in the dark.

"Keep still." Comes the metallic rasp of a voice behind her head.

She ignores this and cannot help bit fidget a little more. She pushes her body back; all the better to feel that familiar swell of Bane's warmth. She wriggles for a moment, trying to find the sweet spot where her shape fits precisely in the gap left by his. His whole body tenses when her backside brushes against the front of his hips. She stops abruptly. Bane's hand - the one she'd slung across herself - suddenly and ferociously grips at her hipbone with strong fingers. His breathing is rattling through the bars of his mask. Swallowing hard, Talia feels that strange _something _again;beginning touncurl itself in the pits of her stomach. It is warm and pleasurable, and it makes her heart hammer in her chest.

Suddenly, more flashbacks of her dream bloom in her mind's eye. She remembers the kiss, the feel of Bane's fingers against her skin. All of a sudden she is aware of a moist smear between her legs. Talia's cheeks flush crimson in the darkess and she pauses for a moment. The quiet room is suddenly buzzing with a new energy that has never been there before.

She carefully inches her body back again until the front of Bane's thighs are pressed against the back of hers. He doesn't stop her, but she feels his thick fingers tighten further on her hipbone, leaving white marks on her flesh. His breath is sharp and ragged in her ear. Something hard is pushing against her backside. She softly moves against it with a gentle rock of her hips. A guttural moan escapes from Bane's mask.

Immediately he is up and off the bed, standing turned away from her.

"Leave," He commands bluntly.

Talia sits up and stares at his back. Moonlight dances on every curve of his muscles as he rolls the sloping arch of his shoulders. The curling, twisting_ something_ in her stomach reacts at the sight of them. Talia nibbles her lip in confusion; is this new thing - whatever it is - _wrong_…? _Was my dream wrong?_ It doesn't feel wrong. Infact, it's almost familiar; like the emergence of a butterfly after spending so long inside it's chrysalis. Somehow, she'd always _known_ it was there; it's just taken time for it to finally uncoil and reveal itself. Talia doesn't want to leave his bed - she has never been able to sleep without him by her side.

"I'll stop moving," She offers hopefully.

Bane is like a statue; bathed in silver light and completely frozen. He slowly comes back to life after a moment, taking in a huge lungful of cold evening air. He turns to look at her. She smiles at him, but it falters when he doesn't return the expression. Those dark eyes are burning with… resentment? Frustration? Embarrassment? For once, Talia is unable to read him; but she sits perfectly still as he stares at her for a long while, breathing slowly and purposefully. As soon as she edges forward - with the idea of taking his hand and leading him back into bed - he abruptly moves away.

"Tomorrow, you will learn to sleep in your own chambers."

Talia watches, bewildered, as he leaves the room, sliding the door shut behind him.


	14. The Refusal

**Okay so I owe all my followers & favourite-ers a massive apology. This story IS NOT ABANDONED. I have just had the craziest last month or so, and haven't had time to do ANYTHING, never mind write. This is a longer chapter than usual to make up for my absence, and there will be more to follow soon. I am so sorry to everyone who has been PM-ing me & reviewing begging for more of this story. It means SO MUCH that you all love it that much, & I'm really trying to not let any of you down.**

**Please be warned - this is NOT a happy chapter. It's pretty much the lowest that it gets. BUT THERE'S A REASON FOR IT. You gotta go low before you can go high! :)**

**I will re-edit this chapter to include a personal thankyous & replies to each reviewer in the morning. Right now it's late, & I just wanted to get the chapter up ASAP so you guys know I'm still with you.**

**Thankyou so much for your continued support. Love you all.**

* * *

**The Refusal.**

Talia's eyes softly flicker open, her sight bleary and her mind confused. After a moment she sits up, and finds herself alone in Bane's bed, looking forward out of the only window; a hazy, pink dawn beginning it's stretch across a winter sky. It takes less than a second for her memory of the previous night to return to her, and her stomach lurches slightly as she pictures her friend almost storming from the room. The same uneasy confusion washes over her; Talia genuinely has no idea what she'd done to make him so upset.

After he'd left, she had dallied; inwardly warring with herself. It could have only been a fraction of a second, but the desire to follow him clashed against a vague feeling of resentment. There was no doubt that Talia was greatly hurt by his unsubtle rejection, and for hours after Bane disappeared she'd experienced a sour combination of guilt and chagrin. But now,in the clear light of a new morning breaking on the horizon, Talia found that she was just angry.

The righteous indignation is kept at bay while she readies herself for the day ahead. Talia quietly slips from Bane's chambers and returns to her own bedroom, where she dresses in her training gi. Each tie, each knot, each buckle is put together slowly and purposefully, the concentration held in place in order to keep Bane from her thoughts.

When she arrives in the training hall and begins to follow her usual group in basic four-step kumite, she cannot help but notice her protector's absence. Although she is determined not to waste time wondering where he is, Talia makes a mental note of how remarkably out of character it is for Bane to miss martial training - especially for something so trivial as a domestic problem. _Maybe since he is only just returned from a mission, he is given time off to recuperate…?_

Even in the mess hall, when Talia, Mohan and the rest of their sparring team regroup to each lunch, Bane is nowhere to be seen. Desperate to be unconcerned about his whereabouts, Talia focuses on her friend's conversation and tries to join in. There is always, however, a small, constant voice in the back of her mind, telling her she ought to be worried. Bane is nothing if not a creature of habit, and his respect for both the League and for Ra's means he would not just simply go AWOL for no reason. Talia finds that she has lost her appetite, and hands out the rest of her day's rations to Mohan. He eyes her with a wary grin of thanks, but says nothing.

As the cold winter sun finally begins to set over the distant mountains, and Talia finishes her final lesson of the day, she already knows that she is unable to continue the charade any further. Without any further hesitation, she heads in the direction of her father's study.

Talia is not even halfway there before she runs into Ra's, who is deep in conversation with another two recruits. When he notices her approach he smiles, and dismisses the League members with a flick of his hand. They silently bow, and take their leave. Before Ra's is even able to speak, the burrowing concern that has been eating at Talia's conscious for the entire day suddenly explodes outward, and she cannot help the tumble of words that escape her lips;

"_Do you know where Bane is_?"

Ra's mouth is halfway open - no doubt a warm word of greeting on his tongue - when Talia speaks. He raises his eyebrows, presses his lips together, and smiles.

"Good evening to you too, Talia."

She stops short in front of her father, already regretting her manners, or lack thereof,

"Apologies father. I am, of course, happy to see you."

Ra's nods gratefully, "And I you, dearest daughter."

He leaves a beat of silence before continuing, "And in answer to your question; yes. I do know where Bane is. What concern it is of yours where I send my recruits off to is, however, more of a mystery…?"

He tone is slightly bemused, and there is a warm smile on his hawk-like features, but Talia knows there is an air of authority colouring her father's words. If, indeed, he has sent Bane off to do the League's bidding, Ra's is quite right to remind Talia it is none of her business. That doesn't, however, stop her from enquiring further.

"I just… I haven't seen him all day. I was worried. Especially since he only just got back from Laos. Surely he can't have been sent away again so soon…?"

Although the bitter taste of anger from the previous evening remains, Talia's overriding concern for Bane's wellbeing prevails for the moment. The thought - however unlikely - that he has been immediately sent away again, perhaps even further across the world this time, threatens to engulf Talia in an all-too-familiar despair. She briefly wonders whether she'd be able to handle such loneliness again so soon.

"There is no cause for alarm," Ra's crisp voice cuts through her spiralling thoughts, "Bane approached me last night, hoping I had some new task for him. Like you, I thought it would be too soon to send him away again, so instead he has embarked on a short training exercise, collecting flora from the mountainside. The venom used within the valves of his mask is made from one of the rarer plants that grows on the Eastern side of the cliff edges, and he volunteered to collect some. All being well, he will return before tonight is through."

Talia takes a steadying breath, already embarrassed at her dramatised version of events. Ra's studies her for a moment, his head cocking at one side.

"He seemed extremely determined to leave the compound, all truth being told. I perhaps wondered if something had happened between you two…?"

Talia is unable to reach her father's gaze, simultaneously amazed and frustrated at his perception. She still has no idea what the strange mix of emotions and instinctive reflexes that she experiences in Bane's presence means, but it is somehow far too intimate to be sharing with her father.

Ra's takes her hesitation as a confirmation, and places a slender-fingered hand on one of her shoulders.

"Talia," His voice is warm but authoratitive, "I cannot begin to understand the bond that you and Bane share, after all you have been through together. I know that to you, he is a protector, and a friend. But perhaps you should try seeing this from his point of view…?"

She looks up at her father finally, and his blue eyes twinkle in return.

"Bane was a man grown when you were just a child. There are few men that walk the earth that would take on the responsibilities of a young girl - a child not of their own blood - never mind a man that lives in such a place as the pit. Every day he had to split his water, his food, his time between two. And for what? You had nothing to return to him, to thank him with. You were just a child."

Talia's eyes narrow._ Does he not think I know this? How can he not see that this guilt lingers over me every second of the day? Why is he talking like this?_

"Now, however, you are safe, you are fed, you are cared for. You are where you belong. Bane has given so much to you, and through you, to me. You must consider that he wishes to spread his wings, to see the world that forgot him, to truly taste the freedom that we repaid him with. Don't you see, dearest daughter? I know that for you Bane is a friend, but you must consider that perhaps to him, you are just a burden."

Something catches in Talia's throat, but she swallows it down. _A burden? Is that truely how he sees me? _She doesn't want to believe it, but a small voice in the back of her mind tells her to consider Ra's words. She is, after all, still a child in Bane's eyes; it's entirely possible that what her father is saying is the truth. A man like Bane, who has spent so many precious years of his manhood trapped inside an underground cage, would obviously want to experience everything the world had to offer. It makes sense that now Talia has repaid his kindness with his freedom, he should want to rid himself of her need of him.

_But he can't. I __**do**__ need him._

Ra's squeezes her shoulder gently, and Talia smiles back up at her father, though secretly she feels as if she has been punched in the stomach.

"Thankyou for your wise counsel, father." She replies with a dry mouth, words coming automatically.

Ra's leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Retire to bed now, child. I shall see you for your lessons in the morning."

* * *

It is a few hours later when Talia is sprawled across her bed, book in hand, that there is a quiet but determined knock at her door. Puzzled, she pulls her kimono tighter across her waist before padding over to the door. When she slides it open, she finds Bane stood at her threshold.

Instinctively, she finds her fundamental desire to close the space between them, to have his strong arms fold around her in a crushing embrace is matched almost perfectly by the simultaneous impulse to roundhouse kick him away from her quarters and slide the door shut in his face. She suppresses both thoughts instantly, and settles for simply raising a quizzical eyebrow.

Bane's black eyes find her own, and Talia immediately softens.

"I have come to apologise to you."

The rasping thrum of his metallic voice weakens her resolve further still. With a sigh, Talia nods for him to enter, and goes to sit at her bed.

Bane follows suit, his enormous weight making her mattress creak in protest. A secret, quiet part of Talia notes that he has not chosen to leave a conspicuous space between the two of them as they sit together, and his warmth at her side makes her smile softly.

"I am sorry for the way I acted last night, little one." He murmurs, eyes staring forward and away from her, "I had greatly anticipated returning to your side after completing your father's work… Yet I ruined our reunion. I was tired, and it had been a while since I'd shared a bed."

Bane's head turns fractionally toward her, and his onyx eyes glitter when they find her face, "I hope I did not upset you in any way."

As she looks back upon her friend's masked face, Talia's eyebrows knot together. _I wanted an apology, and here it is… Yet somehow, it is not enough._

There is a heartbeat of quiet whilst they watch each other's expressions, but it is apparent that Bane has said all he meant to.

"Is that all?" Talia queries in hushed tones.

His eyes squint in confusion, "I am sorry, little one, truly. I thought it would be best if I left the compound for a few hours, in order to clear my head. I have done so, and it is obvious I wronged you. Please accept my apology."

"I accept your apology," Talia confirms with a nod and a quick smile, reaching out and placing one delicate hand across the top of her friend's, "It's just… Well… _Why _did you leave in the middle of the night like that?"

She can feel blood already beginning to rise to her cheeks, the serpent of snakes in her gut, but she ignores them. They've danced around this for long enough, and with Ra's words still spinning around her head, more than ever Talia needs to bring it all out into the open; she needs to know if he feels what she feels - the strange, curling heat in the stomach when they touch, the sweet, hungry ache when they are separated. It's something new, and it's frightening, but it has _never _once felt wrong. She is more than aware that it is not something to feel shameful of, or to get angry with. And yet, Bane is the only one she can talk to about this. _Somehow I need to make him understand._ Her eyes bore into his, unconsciously searching him for some kind of answer.

His metallic voice is less booming than usual when he responds, "What do you mean?"

Talia sighs, exasperated, already knowing he has a perfectly good idea of what she is referring to. She tries a different angle.

"When I left the pit the first time, I was just a child. I could never have understood what leaving you behind would do to me."

She removes her hand from his, and instead places it against the side of his face, gently sweeping the pad of her thumb across his cheekbone. Bane stares back at her, hardly moving.

"Those four years without my protector, without my friend… I was numb inside; like there was a big, black hole." Talia's spare hand instinctively clasps at her stomach, and Bane's eyes follow it for a second, "When I returned to you, when I found you… The relief - I cannot put it into words. The hole was gone, and over this past year or so, as you've gotten stronger, so too have I."

Bane remains unmoving as she speaks, seemingly absorbing the very words spilling from her mouth. When she mentions her relief, he nods absent-mindedly.

"You understand, don't you?" Talia face breaks into a smile, and she can feel the first pricks of tears behind her eyelids, a wash of emotion overcoming her at sharing such an intimate experience with the only other person on this earth that could possibly comprehend what she means, "I know you do. But now…"

Her words trail off somewhat, and Bane looks on with concern. Talia drops her gaze slightly, so that she is speaking to the valves on his mask.

"Now it feels _different_. Now, when we are separated, it isn't the same. When you were in Laos, I was not numb, or empty. I was filled with… With…" She growls a little, frantically searching for the right words, "With a burn. With a sore. It _hurts_ me to be parted from you, Bane."

He looks as if he might speak, but Talia continues before he has chance; it feels as if she is getting somewhere, and she is so very desperate to make him understand.

"But that is nothing. _Nothing._ Not when compared to what it feels like when we're close. Like this."

She chances a flicker upward, looking at him through her eyelashes. The soft expression of acknowledgement on his masked face is gone; replaced by a very definite picture of confusion.

"It tears at me," She blurts out, not knowing how else to describe it, "At my soul. Like a fire. It rages inside me and the closer we get, the more it roars. And it's only with you; it's only _ever_ been with you… I just need to know if you feel it too,"

Her voice has gotten quieter with each word; the enthusiasm deflating by Bane's less than immediate reciprocation. Talia peels her palm from his cheek, dropping it into her lap, and keeping her gaze low; embarrassed by the uncomfortable silence that now follows her bearing her heart to him. _Father was right._

"I love you." She manages. It's almost pitiful, and so soft it's a wonder he even hears it. But Talia feels him stiffen at her side, and knows that he has.

"Talia…" His rasp cracks a little behind the mask. Bane puts one hand on the side of her head that's closest to him, stroking her shoulder-length hair, "You are still only a child. You cannot know what love is."

It is said almost as a condolence, but his words rip through her harder and sharper than any blade. She immediately looks to his face, wounded.

"I am the only constant that's ever been in your life," He continues, entwining thick fingers through her soft curls, "And I wouldn't have it any other way. But it is not love that you feel, little one. Affection? Devotion? Admiration? Yes. These are all things I feel for you, too. But it is not love. It... cannot be."

Talia feels as if she might throw up.

"It cannot be? Why not?" She snarls, standing off the bed and tearing her head away from his touch.

Bane looks confused at her sudden indignation, and for some reason that makes her even angrier.

"You are so young…" He shakes his head, and Talia could swear his is smiling. _Is he laughing at me? _

"I am ten years your senior," He offers patronisingly, "You were not more than a toddler when you came into my care."

Her mind reels, "What does age have to do with anything?"

Bane simply stares at her - quite obviously mystified at Talia's reaction. She in turn is mortified, a throbbing pain made up of confusion, rejection and embarrassment pinning her to the spot. Tears are no longer threatening to spill, they simply fall of their own accord. She grits her teeth, refusing to sob, just letting them streak down her face. The silence becomes unbearable, and finally, Talia ends it.

"Leave. Now."


	15. The Impact

**Okay so I have alot to say to you guys! The continued support that this story has gotten - even when I took a short break from it - has been truly overwhelming for me. As I've said before, writing is NOT a natural form of creativity for me; I have to work SO, SO hard at it to get it to anywhere near close to where I want it to be, & the fact that people genuinely seem to connect with this stupid little scribble of mine is more than I could have asked for. **

**I only updated yesterday, but I wanted to get this chapter up ASAP as a thankyou to everyone who has been reading & reviewing & really helping to inspire me to keep going with it. I think this is one of the parts you guys were looking forward to. Please enjoy, with my love. 3**

**Now for the personal replies!**

**Priscilla2 - Yep. I think it's inevitable Talia has to get crushed. In my eyes, it isn't a natural progression for Bane to go from bigger brother role to lover role in a blink of an eye. I want him to fight it!**

**PrivateNites - He's always going to resist! ALWAYS! I've made this the slowest burning pairing I possibly could, & it's all from his end! ;)**

**Marcella Watts - I'm sorry it took me so long, but here's two updates for you! Hope you like! (& He does love her, don't fear. ;) )**

**Mondieu666 - As always, THANKYOU for sticking by me. & Like you, I cannot ever get enough sexual tension! Here! Have some more! ;)**

**Sasha - Thankyou so much for your lovely compliments re: the dream. I wanted it to be the first bit of smut, but without the hassle of Bane's mask/power etc. Telling me any part of my story is "in character" is one of the biggest compliments ever, because that is basically ALL I CARE ABOUT. THANKYOU!**

**Enu Asar - Yours is one of my favourite reviews. Thankyou! The flashbacks started because I basically wanted to write about those parts, no matter what. So I just jammed them in there! I'm glad it seemed natural. Regarding the martial arts history - my boyfriend is a blackbelt/teacher of shotokan karate, so I pick up bits from him. The Wing Chun stuff is half real, half made up, I'm glad you agree it fits the story. PLEASE write your own Bane/Talia fic, I cannot get enough of them & it's so lovely to be inspired by other's work.**

**anaellefire - Thankyou so much! I am trying my hardest to make their interactions believeable, and I agree although their are both powerful forces to be reckoned with, they have a genuine, warm love for each other.**

**baebin - Yeah... Sorry... I just LOVE the slow burn. Perhaps you'll like this chapter all the more...? :P**

**firstmorningdew - "Elegant" is such a lovely word, thankyou so much for using it to describe my story, I really appreciate it.**

**Veronica105 - What a compliment! Wowwwee! Thankyou so much! And yes, Bane has lots he's hiding. ;)**

**theleague-ofshadows - This review floored me. I cannot thankyou enough. "A gem"? Holy moly. Wow. I am obsessed with characters speaking through eyes, i have no idea why. I spend far too much time describing eyes. :/ I love older Talia too - though I have her at about 17/18 & Bane at 27/28. This way Bane is old enough to have cared for her in the pit, but not too old that their love is... Well... Creepy. Haha. Thankyou so much for your kind words, it means so much. 3**

**Caligirl4ever87 - Thankyou! Hope you enjoy the rest!**

**Dei Gratia 43 - Bane IS stupid. Bloody stupid Bane. Damn him.**

**dsljordan - WOW! Thankyouuuuu! I never expected such an insanely flattering review, and yours really touched me! It made my day! I hope you continue to enjoy the rest! Thankyou so, so much.**

**And... Of course... **

**Belle de Saint Ange - THANKYOU MY LOVE! I'm sorry I didn't reply to your PMs straight away, I just wanted to get the chapters out asap because I thought that would make you happiest. ;) Your reviews continue to light me up, and genuinely made me work like a madwoman tonight to get this chapter out. Thankyou so much, as always, I cannot believe your support & love for my daft collection of words. It means so much. 3**

**PHEW!**

* * *

**The Impact.**

After he leaves, Talia makes a promise to herself. _I will not go running back to him. _Almost as she thinks it, some other part of her mind rebels against the notion - telling her it is futile. Bane has always felt like one half to her whole, and yet, for him to cast such a shadow over what she considers to be an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his presence beside her… She doesn't know whether she can forgive him for that. She has her lessons and her training and her friends - the compound is big enough that they can continue their separate lives without interfering on the other. Talia will force herself to make this work.

And she does.

Over the next few days, Talia actively avoids being in Bane's company. She makes more time for her father's one-on-one teachings, where she knows they will not be disturbed. She trains with Mohan often, sparring in her favourite martial arts styles and once again revelling in her friend's own personal brand of attention that he gives to her freely. Infact, though Mohan, Talia learns to integrate herself with a new set of similarly-aged recruits and although there is a constant, simmering resentment bubbling just beneath her surface, she works hard to push it down into the balls of her feet; concentrating on forming new friendships with those around her.

She knows a bond such as that which she shared with Bane is not one that can be found around every corner, but Talia finds there is comfort to be discovered in more mundane relationships aswell. When she talks to the boys in her new group, it is a relief that their conversations are not marred by memories of the pit. Talia also finds that she thinks about her mother less often, and this brings her more peace than she could have ever imagined. None of them address her with any condescension or air of superiority - on the contrary, in fact, as she is the daughter of their leader, many of them look upto her, and treat each word that spills from her mouth with respect and reverie. Not once is she referred to as _little one_, and after only being called upon by her name or title after a while, the mere thought of being addressed in such a way begins to disgust her.

As the days pass, Talia experiences the same dull ache that she always did when away from Bane, but she finds it easier to ignore. She wonders if this is because she is actively refusing to acknowledge it's existence or simply because Bane himself is only a short walk away should she succumb and wish to see him. Either way, she learns to deal with it, and once again throws herself in training and lessons.

It is a week later when she is stood before her Wing Chun wooden training dummy in her quarters, routinely going through stances and movements before lights out. There is a knock at her door. Talia doesn't bother to open it, instead calling out to whomever is waiting;

"Enter."

There is the sound of sliding wood, and when Talia looks over she sees Bane's huge form silhouetted against the candlelight. He is in his usual dark combats, but his torso is bare and he wears no shoes; clearly he has come straight from his own training. The sight of him stops her in her tracks, and she immediately drops out of stance, simply staring.

"I will not trouble you for long."

The lilting, metallic voice washes over Talia like a warm breeze. She hates herself for immediately feeling the comfort it brings; like a needle and thread it begins to suture the aching hole left by his recent absence. She remains silent, content to just watch Bane stride into her room. He closes the door behind him.

"I thought it best to make you aware of my situation," He rasps, and she notices his black eyes flicker once over the hem of her kimono. Something flutters in her chest.

"I have been assigned to Europe. After tomorrow, I will be away from the compound for approximately six months."

It feels as if the air has been knocked from Talia's lungs.

"You're… Leaving? _Again_?"

Her voice is barely more than a whisper, and she is talking to herself more than to him. This is not what she wanted. Granted, she has been actively ignoring Bane since their argument, but she was merely giving them the space she thought their relationship needed to recover._ I did not want to be a burden._ Even if they aren't reciprocated, her feelings have not changed. The idea that Bane is being pulled from her side again, that he is taking himself halfway across the world, is akin to an icy blade sliding between her ribs. It feels as if a safety net has been ripped from beneath her feet. Talia staggers back onto her bed and sits, blankly staring at the hardwood floor.

Bane remains motionless; a frozen statue of solid muscle; "I personally requested to join the group travelling to Russia." He states, as if it were the most mundane thing in the world, "I depart for Moscow tomorrow afternoon."

Talia doesn't look at him, instead cradling her head in her hands. By now, she'd normally expect to start crying, but the numb shock has overwhelmed her.

"Why?" She replies, speaking to the floor, her voice hoarse with emotion.

Bane says nothing, but prowls over to the large glass door that leads to her personal balcony, hands clasped behind his back like a soldier. Talia senses him staring outward over the mountain vista for a long moment before he speaks.

"This has become… difficult, little one."

_I am __**not **__your little one._ She wants to say it out loud, but catches herself before the words form on her tongue. _There are more important things to speak of right now_. Talia lifts her head, and turns to look at her friend as he stands facing away from her, moonlight catching on the metal clasps of his mask.

"I can understand that you wished to spend time apart from me." Bane continues, his eyes still fixed on the dark sky, "And although regrettable, it is not my place to change your mind."

He pauses, his hands unclenching from behind him and falling awkwardly to each side, the fingers fisting absent-mindedly. He looks uncomfortable.

"It is also not my place to lecture you on the company you keep, but I have had some trouble coming to terms with the choices you have made in regards to those you now spend your time with in my absence. It is not easy for me to see you in their association."

If it weren't for Bane's exceptional grasp of language and pronunciation, it could almost sound as if those words had tumbled out of his mask before he'd had the chance to stop them. Talia's eyes narrow warily, and she stands in order to take a few steps closer. The familiar sensation of righteous indignation flares inside her;

"You have a problem with my friends?"

"They are not worthy to be your friends, Talia." He retorts immediately, chancing a glance at her over one shoulder.

His words stagger her, and for a moment Talia has no idea how to respond. She was already aware that Bane's protective streak over her was not left behind in the pit - the scars Mohan carries on his body are evidence of that alone. She knows it is selfish, but Talia was always warmed by the idea that Bane's devotion to her wellbeing is more than simply the acts of a kind man in a cruel place. Since reuniting with him, she had caught herself reading into each touch of his skin, reading invisible meanings into each of his carefully chosen words, all the while knowing she was deluding herself and yet not quite understanding how or why. _And yet_... Ra's words continue to sound in the back of her mind… _Why should he care now, when I am safe? I thought I was nothing more than a weight, holding him down as he tries to take flight._

Talia studies the back of Bane for a long time - the candlelight ripples on his slope of his neck and the curvature of his spine. Her silence earns her another glance from his onyx eyes over one shoulder, and when he catches the earnest expression on her face, Bane turns fully to look at her.

"Little one…?"

She dismisses his old term of endearment with a scowl, then raises her chin in defiance. Talia's heart quickens in her chest, and she feels the familiar squirm of snakes in her gut, but presses on nonetheless. _If he is leaving, I have nothing left to lose._

"My friends," She questions with an accusatory glare, comforted to hear her voice does not sound as shaky as she feels, "…Are you… _Jealous_ of them?"

There is a beat of uncomfortable silence, and then Bane lets out a humourless laugh;

"Jealous? My dearest Talia, what on earth do they have that is possibly worthy of my envy?"

"Me." She snaps back, still staring him down even though he towers over her, "My time, my attention, my love."

Even behind the mask, it is obvious that Bane's expression sours almost immediately,

"A love that they cannot possibly deserve."

Talia's eyebrows raise in surprise; she had not expected him to admit as much so quickly,

"But you do? Is that it?"

He says nothing, but his body sags ever so slightly where he stands - the great roll of his shoulders slumping forward, and his head hanging a little lower than usual. Talia thinks she should perhaps feel sorry for him, but all she can manage is a furious blaze of resentment.

"I offered myself to you!" She snarls, suddenly burning with a strange mixture of guilt and defiance, "More than once! You made it perfectly clear that it wasn't what you wanted, and yet I am given no other choice! You expect me to continue… What? Chasing you?"

Bane growls beneath the metal valves, his heavy brow creased. He turns back away from her, the muscles in his shoulders flexing.

"You have no idea, do you, little one?"

"Stop calling me that!" Talia grinds her teeth, exasperated, as she walks around to face him. She won't allow him to simply turn away from this, "And yes,_ actually_, I think I have a perfectly good idea! You look at me and see nothing but an eleven year old girl in rags, still reaching for the sun. I am a _woman_ now, Bane! I am almost eighteen years old! I am Talia Al Ghul, heir to the League of Shadows!"

She cannot help herself. Talia finds her hands reaching forward, and she pushes against Bane's expansive chest in frustration. Of course, she barely even rocks him. Instead, he catches her wrists in his huge hands and stares her right in the eye.

"Your naivety never ceases to astound me."

Talia struggles, but his grasp is too strong. She settles for simply scowling at him.

"I am well aware of your womanhood." He states dryly in his lilting accent, holding her gaze, "_More_ than aware. I have watched you grow from a newborn baby to an energetic child to a troubled teenager to… _This._" He nods at her, his fingers still tightly clasped at her wrists, "I must watch everyday as you develop into _such_ a woman; how can I blame any other man for taking notice of you? How can I complain when they fawn over you, surrender themselves to you? And they do, little one. Even if you do not see it, they do."

Talia shakes her head, "You have no right to complain! You don't own me, you don't have any power over me!"

Bane drops his hold on her but takes a step forward. Talia is forced back against the sliding door-sized window, but she holds her chin high, refusing to back down to him.

He places one hand on her shoulder, palm up, and the pad of his thumb brushes ever so slightly against her jawline.

"We both know that's not true, Talia." He whispers through the metal grating.

When he's close like this, Talia is able to truly appreciate the raw power and strength and_ size_ of him. He's _huge. _She swallows, taking in the smell of his perspiration. Her eyes hold his for a long moment, and she feels the familiar sensation of something warm uncurling itself in the pits of her stomach. Inwardly, she curses herself for it, still wishing to be angry, to see this argument through to the end. Automatically though, her heart hammers beneath her chest. He's so close, she can feel his heat and see the beads of sweat on his collarbone.

"Prove it," She murmurs back finally.

Before she even has time to register what is happening, Bane's hands have gripped the underside of her thighs, and Talia is heaved upward. He pushes her hard against the glass and she exhales sharply at the pain in her back. He presses himself into her, roughly pulling her legs around his hips, one hand under her knee to keep her steady, the other at her neck. The valves of his mask are an inch away from her nose.

"I have a_ certain _power over you," He growls, "Just as you have an undeniable power over me."

There are a few moments where the pair do nothing but bore into each other, their chests rising and falling rapidly - almost touching when they both inhale.

A sudden heat has flushed across Talia's skin. They've been this close before - usually during sparring matches, or when they have fallen asleep curled in each other's arms. But this is so very, very different. A raw, thrilling energy hums between them both, making them pant and sweat as their eyes lock on each other. The curling, warm _something _in Talia's abdomen is writhing manically now, licking upward - touching her chest and her throat and squirming deep between her legs. She cannot help but crack a wicked smile,

"Now what?"

There's a throaty rumble from behind the metal before Bane's hand at her collarbone quickly darts behind his head. He moves against the latches at the nape of his neck with thick, deft fingers and Talia hasn't time to stop him before he pulls the mask away from his face. He drops it to the floor.

She stares at him in disbelief, his body still forced between her legs. She doesn't know what to say. Bane glares at her with fire in his dark eyes, though she notices he's already heaving in great lungfuls of air with the effort of breathing unaided. Talia knows this must be causing him a phenomenal amount of pain, and yet she can't find it within herself to complain. It feels like forever since she's seen that face and selfishly, she feels a desperate need to drink in the sight of it. She wants to memorise it all; it's as handsome as it's ever been - the slightly bent nose, the proud cheekbones, the full lips. Only now it is marred - tattooed with memories of what he endured for her - scars and scratches and milky skin that never sees the sun. Talia commits it to memory in just a matter of seconds - she has to - because suddenly she finds her gaze lingering on that beautiful, slightly parted mouth and without warning those lips of his come crashing onto her own, kissing her fiercely.

She doesn't even hesitate in her response. Talia opens her mouth and angrily seeks out his tongue with her own, their teeth gnashing together, the hard white scars on his lips scraping against the soft skin on her face. He parts the opening of her kimono with both hands and she shudders underneath him as he drags his fingers down every contour, her legs still clamped below his waist. His mouth bites at hers greedily when Talia's hands come up to cup his jawline. Her fingers hungrily paw at the skin that never sees the light of day before she stretches around and grabs the back of his head, pulling him further into her. She is _inhaling_ him, and he moans into her mouth. The dull ache, the warm curling pleasure that she so often feels in his presence has come blazing to life inside her - like the last few embers of a fire suddenly fuelled with alcohol - it is roaring now; burning through all of her. Only he can put it out. _Oh god, _she's wanted this since… _Forever. _After a few moments, Bane's soft groans turn into a strangled cry and she pulls away a little, looking at him carefully.

His forehead is glistening with sweat, his pallor has turned pale. He looks at her intently, through gritted teeth. It's the last thing she wants, but she's been selfish enough already. Talia manages to pull out of his embrace, her feet find the floor, and she carefully picks up his mask.

His eyes continue to bore into her, his great chest heaving, as she reaches upward on tiptoes to attach it back to his face. When the valves set in place, there is a hiss, and his eyes close momentarily as he inhales the venom. Talia feels her heart sink, knowing deep down that she'll probably never be able to kiss him like that again. Even if he offered it, she would struggle to enjoy such an embrace knowing he was enduring white-hot agony for just a few moments of her pleasure.

Bane opens his eyes again; his breathing now steady. Talia begins to turn away from him, pulling her robe back over her, but he suddenly grabs her by the shoulder, whipping her round and forces her back against the window. She winces at the impact on her spine.

"Oh, did you think we were done, little one?" He rasps, eyes crinkled at the corners in a smile.

* * *

**A/N: I know the original "kiss" from the dream was soft, and lovely, and tender... But well, this _is_ Bane & Talia we're taking about. They're such powerful, strong people & since Bane has been fighting this every step of the way, & Talia just doesn't understand it there's no way their first kiss isn't going to be an EXPLOSION of passion and power and raw energy. Just thought that needed explaining. Thanks guys! ^_^**


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